I'm not a content creator by any means, but I cannot express how much this video has helped me come to understand what I'm feeling and why something needs to change. Thank you for all you do, and for all the greats who are putting themselves first!
I relate so hard to what you said about not being able to review all three phones in front of you - I used to want to try and cover every single new thing that I could buy or that arrived with me. I felt like each was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I'd feel stupid to let pass me by But when your content becomes better, and the time required for every single part of the process goes up, not to mention your standards get higher, it becomes completely unfeasible and you have to pick and choose. Here's to making more things just because we enjoy them!
Nearly 20 years doing this now, ive resisted having a cameraman/editor/ team etc as the thing that made youtube so good back in the day was it was normal people and there mates doing awesome stuff and i've always felt if i get a team of people behind the scenes i start to become a TV show or a manager so my work process today is the same as back in 2006 lol. Its put a limit on the amount of content but thats all. My only tip at present is KEEP ON DIGGING. Great vid Marques as usual.
I completely agree with this mindset while it will improve the efficiency of certain things, it will definitely dull down the things you can do. As you can't take the same risks once you build a team. No offense to LMG/Linus Tech Tips, but they're a good example of this. They've grown so fast over the years that they can't do anything simple anymore without some sort of involved process. It makes everything very corporate feeling (which it is in their case).
I still can't get over how much you have hauled out by hand in those bucket thingies. I've dug a bunch of holes by hand, but my back groans for at least a week after doing about 1% of what I've seen in your vids. 😖 Please don't stop though! Haha.
Colin is my favorite content creator hands down. I’ve never sat and thought about why that is the case, but you just explained it for me. It really does feel like just a cool guy filming all the cool stuff he wants to do. It does absolutely feel like content from the early days of TH-cam.
Very well said. Even outside of TH-cam, starting a business of any kind can be very difficult. Especially when it starts to grow and you begin the process of adding different levels of responsibility to your team in order to maintain it. This video definitely makes all of the sense in the world to me and it is very helpful. Thank you for it.
Great video! Very well said. Having been on this platform now for 18 years - I totally feel every single word you said. I "left" TH-cam as my full-time job almost six years ago now, and it was such a good decision for me. I don't have to focus on maintaining all 8 of my octopus tentacles, but instead can work with a larger team and just stick to my core competences and "heart." Loved all the disparate analogies here - you get it.
They are quiting..... because some people are fed up, that people are pointing finger on everybody to make profit instead of finding healthy solutions that help our society and community and inspire people in healthy way. we became a society of "pointing finger on everybody" because its profitable, but it doesn´t make the society happy and productive,
we are suposed to find solution to healthy lifestyle. not pointing finger on our neighbors, on certain group of people, on old people, or on young people, on vegetarian people, on broken people on healthy people we are supposed to feel empathy and find solutions It solves nothing, it just contributes to more and more problems and less and less happiness, less and less satisfaction. I am fed up that youtube constantly sends me videos where people trow trash on each other and analyze celebrities and nonsense. We all do it at some point, but some people do it so often that they dont realize how unhappy it makes them feel.
@@marcellkovacs5452 I’m not necessarily saying the other ways are bad, just that Scott did it best. I understand life happens and you can’t plan for everything.
@@SyntheticFuture you just contradicted yourself with the second sentence. I watch Mark but Unus Anus was meh ngl it felt like a 2nd channel just to shill merch and legally call it "limited-time only"
What's weird is... even if you never cater to the algorithm, ignore pressure to post frequently, don't sell any merch, and avoid management headaches by never expanding to a team, continuing to make videos the same way you always have... you can experience burnout. I've heard.
I think the trick is youtube creator jobs actually DO scale like regular jobs - what you're describing is very similar to how most small businesses scale (your job becomes more and more overhead and coordination). For example, it's not that different than trying to scale a plumbing business. The biggest difference seems to me that you still need to be the "star", which makes it hard to naturally transition into a management / owner role because you can't delegate that role easily. A lot of these "quitting youtube" videos seem to happen when creators reach the level of scale that they realize they need to delegate the star role, and that requires a conversation with fans to reassure them and try to keep them onboard through the transition (Linus Media Group seems like a great example of this).
I appreciate your honesty! As a fellow TH-camr who started a few months ago and focuses on hair tutorial videos, I totally relate to the part about "cutting some arms," which, for me, one of the arms I will like to cut off is the editing process. As I grow and evolve, seeking help with editing is something I'll likely explore. I've noticed many big creators expressing a desire to quit. In my view, pacing oneself can indeed help reduce burnout. I'm committed to keeping the creative process enjoyable - it should be fun, not a chore. Let's continue creating and enjoying the journey
Didn’t think I’d be getting a MKBHD shout out for quitting TH-cam 😂 great insights! For me I don’t feel burnt out but I do feel the need to stop the machine for a bit, slow down, learn, recalibrate and give myself time to figure out what the next phase is. Whether that’s coming back to TH-cam but doing it differently or doing something completely different. It’s just very hard to do that figuring out while keeping the machine going. Anyways thanks man 🙏🏻
Brah I don't know you or honestly ever heard of you or your channel, but I can see why you deserve your subscribers. Good, genuine communicators are what we all want and I applaud all of you content creators who don't fall into the Death of a Salesman trap. The medium and era may be different, the sliding scale of value and worth may be different, but never forget your worth and NEVER sell too much of yourself for too cheap. Love the treadmill analogy. Best of luck
I 100% agree. As a content creator in China for around 7 years now with over a million followers, I can tell you that making sure that you're still spending at least 60-70% of your time doing the part of content creation that you love, but also remembering that you can sometimes slow down to a walk, and speed up to a jog or run when it comes to the number of videos you're making is totally ok. It's not all or nothing for the entire time. It's your career, and you get to decide because burnout sucks! And the whole point of working for yourself is YOU get to make the rules.
I really needed this right now. I'm by no means a big creator, but the pressure still mounts at times. Thank you for putting this so eloquently and for the great insights.
This is something a lot of people discount without realising I feel. Chasing to grow in their revenue and audience size only to come to hate what it does to their creativity and the work they conduct themselves in. I personally related to what Tom Scott said in his not-quite-leaving video, about hating the idea of being a manager. I've always said couldn't be a CEO and would never want to be. To a lot of people, that's me limiting myself, or not being, "ambitious". In reality, I'm merely aware of where I'm most happy and most comfortable. An executive office and the money that comes with it wouldn't make me happier, but the consequences and responsibilities of those achievments would make me miserable.
Also the Tom Scott reference missed that he added other content over the years that isn’t stoping, just the original series that has been going for 10 years.
@smartereveryday This explains so much. I was just looking at your cadence of videos a few days ago and found my assumption blown away that there wasn't the forced posting to feed an algorithm that other creators have. Given how memorable your content has been, I truly believed you had cranked more content out. Which truly says everything that the quality of the idea and the merit of the content matters most. A need to rewatch for deeper nuggets and the shareability of the message creates in views. A Seinfeld eque approach.
While I was hearing Marques I don't know why but I just though about you and your channel. I was hopping to know that you will keep your channel focus on what makes your mind curious and just spread that excitement as always (It's laminar flow, we all know lol). Anyways, I still feel the excitement and curiosity in your eyes when you talk about something, it doesn't matter if you are looking to water, rockets, carburetors, just visited a farm, talk to NASA or the president. I don't know if this will reach you but thanks for sharing your point of view and I hope you don't get any pressure chasing the algorithm because channels like yours do a big impact and should be preserved as they are.
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"A dream job, is still a job" is very well said. Work-life balance is very important.
Timestamped Highlights: 0:18 🎥 TH-camrs quitting, retiring, or cutting back on TH-cam 1:42 🌟 TH-cam as a dream job and its growing complexity 3:07 🏀 TH-cam as being a professional athlete 5:03 ⚖ Creative jobs don’t scale like regular jobs 7:40 🏃♂ Avoiding burnout and finding the right pace on the treadmill 10:43 🐙 Octopus analogy: multiple roles of a TH-cam creator 12:15 ✂ Getting help and delegating tasks effectively Supported by NoteGPT
I gotta say. Your octopus analogy applies outside of the creative space, to anyone who is working with or managing teams. It’s smart to know your own strengths and fill that role as best you can while relying on and trusting others to do what you’re not great at and reaching the same goal. Great vid
In summary: become a comfortably jogging two-legged octopus and buy six more treadmills for each of the other 6 legs and make sure to keep your three hearts intact
The only problem with "everyone wanting to become a TH-camr" is that it doesn't produce any tangible products. Entertainment and information yes, but nothing of real tangible value.... like it or not.
True, everything Marques said isn't even specific to being a youtuber. It applies to any profession, particularly if you're self employed - you have to wear multiple hats and if you're successful you either end up turning down work or employing/managing people to keep up. Even in regular jobs, you get employed to do something but as soon as you want to get a promotion the higher you go the further away from doing the thing you were originally doing you get.
It's refreshing to hear a realistic and thoughtful perspective on the complexities of being a content creator. Your analogies really hit home and made the message clear.
I totally resonate with what you've expressed here. The TH-camr job is more multifaceted than most people understand and the burnout is real. Keep your passion at the core of everything you do and remember why you started.
I have yet to post a video, but it's been my biggest source of information and entertainment for about seven years. I have strong feelings about the platform and a hope for the future of it. Those who started out as pure creatives, and found themselves at that point where they had to choose to either create less, and manage more, or continue to progress in creating, and earn less, I hope those who chose to manage, will be able to pass the creative torch to younger creatives. TH-cam's going to keep changing, in ways that many of us don't like. Some things it changes, will be for the better.🤞 But as the platform attracts more corporate firms, it would be nice to see a line of torch-bearers, continue to pass that torch.
He did not mention the most important thing in this whole story which is money and wealth. the question is how much did all those youtubers make before making the conscious decision of retiring or quitting or whatever ! i find the video quite misleading and deceptive because there was a deliberate effort to avoid talking about that !
@@maxgibifyit’s a SUPER crybaby problem. Like there’s no physical labor they have teams to edit, come up with idea and they get plenty of free products. Plus making more money than most people with degrees. He gets to go to award shows. Meet with the head of Apple. But these people are burned out because “I have to make videos and travel”😂😂😂😂
I knew he was pulling my leg. He's having too much fun and getting free new stuff sent to you all the time is likely a blast. If he ever gets kids, he might change gears.
This is part of the magic of your brand the way you articulate the subject you're discussing makes it easy to follow, I love your channel and have been faithful to your brand for Years now
My answer has been to save some videos for myself. Just make something for me, without help. It may not even be for TH-cam. Use the scale to keep the machine going. To pay the bills. The trap is chasing money. Creativity is always at arms reach if we ignore the game
Do I get it right that you want some videos to be perfect and others that are good enough, so they can be released in time? Which, I gotta say, is a really great way. I'm not a patreon, but I do wonder how you communicate that to your patreons?
Great video (as always). I went through this as a writer before I experienced it as a TH-camr. I always dreamt of being a published novelist (and with good reason; it's a wonderful job), and I spent a lot of time doing it for free before anyone ever paid me. But the creativity part of writing, while of course it's at the center of the work, is only part of the story. You also have to think about invoicing and net-45 payment schedules and marketing your books effectively and collaborate with designers and editors and audiobook producers and foreign language agents and so on. All of this is great work, of course--it's inherent to your dreams coming true, which is of course an amazing experience--but it's very difficult to remain creative while also doing a good job of the other stuff, and "the other stuff" becomes a bigger and bigger part of your job. This is one reason why I used to publish a book every other year and now it's every four or five. With TH-cam, it's even more extreme, because there is even less support, and the business models aren't as mature. And when people feel like they've lived the dream, and now they're ready to go on and live another life, I think we should thank and congratulate them. Thanks as always for using your voice with such care and thoughtfulness. -John
People see a successful TH-camr and think I can do that. In reality running a creative business is all consuming. As a photographer working on making the leap to TH-cam. The amount of work involved is INSANE. To get my first video out I’ve had to learn the ins and outs of outs of shooting video, learning premier, audition & after effects, learning color grading, bashing my head against a wall matching audio tone from different sources, diving into the black hole that is licensed music, learning the tax structure for gig work, and on and on. All of that is before my first video is an even done. Even as I improve my base TH-cam skill set I learned very quickly you just can’t speed a lot of the workflow up much while still maintaining a high bar for quality. It is a dream job for someone like me but the amount of work required is far beyond 99.9% of people.
@@AnthonyJGianotti It's a lot of work if you want it to look professional. I make simple documentary videos so I get by with simple editing too and still don't have time to publish everything I record. Because I do that in my spare time between paying job and family.
“Do what you love. Love what you do” is on my wall above my imac for a good reason. 💖 Delegating the things you don’t love sounds like a wonderful idea. Because somebody will love to do that thing you don’t. I’m so glad you are there being an inspiration in a way that goes way beyond tech - just in your being-ness. Such good energy and authenticity - and so smart. Just some of the things we all appreciate about you. 💖
It's still wild to me that TH-cam has been around long enough for even some of the most dedicated creators to move on. The recent retirements aren't just your usual TH-camr that's been on the platform for a few years. It's creators that have been here for 10+ years, creators who were there when TH-cam was starting to take off. We're slowly moving to a new era, and it's a weird feeling as a long time user of the platform.
Ten years in any job even a very well paid job is quite a long time these days. Actually the more well paid a job is the more able a person is to have options to change to another well paid job.
I haven't watched this video yet but I've heard that TH-cam has gotten really bad about demonetizing videos with no details for the demonetization. Yet they'll still run ads. I don't know how true it is but for a lot of people this is their job. A lot of content creators have employees they need to pay.
People are getting sooo much money they could live for generations without even need to work a single day. It's only natural that some of them finally decided to just retire and live slowly. I mean even if they're no longer making youtube content, the channel are still there generating money. They don't need to worry about any financial problem, they've reach financial freedom. I would do the same.
Your NAILING this. Thanks fo the brilliant deep dive and honest revelations. This is also true for any other person working for himself and growing. You end up doing absolutely nothing you started off enjoying. Brilliantly you also looked at the solution and not just the problem.
as someone who recently started hiring people to handle some of my editing work after 11 years of doing everything myself, it's been a huge boon to my creativity. i don't need to think about editing nearly as much, which has almost revitalized my brain and my motivation to do more interesting things. i think a lot of people who want to start a channel really do not realize how much work it is. when i first started, i saw so many channels and people who thought they had so many good ideas for youtube, but once they exhausted those ideas, they just full stopped creating content, whether it was because they ran out of ideas, or got too tired of it. it's not enough to just have 8-10 video ideas, make them and that's it. you gotta make those and then keep it going... forever. and that is not something many people are prepared for, both physically and mentally. i'd rather be doing this than 99.9% of other jobs out there, it is a privilege to be here, the freedoms are amazing, but that doesn't mean it's all sunshine and rainbows either. you have to eat, breathe and sleep content.
I can relate, it's a lot more work than I initially expected. On top of the passion you want to share (mine is cooking and baking) you have to learn to master all the rest: record videos, pay attention to the lighting, edit videos in premiere pro, have decent audio, work around TH-cam limitations (e.g. a short with a big file size will see its quality crushed in half by YT), navigate through music copyrights, suffer restrictions in some countries because of the music you selected, deal with flakey analytics, try not to fall in depression when your content isn't promoted by YT, etc etc... I believe there are basically two worlds: the big channels with an established audience who will cash youtube money until the end of time, and the small channels (like mine) who have to try and grow but where the attendance will expect the same quality as the bigger channels. Not easy, but I'm confident I will get there one day...
I resonated deeply with your video about why people stop making TH-cam videos. Your insights touched on the emotional aspects that many creators experience. Your words reminded me of the journey and passion behind content creation, and it's reassuring to know others understand the challenges. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and fostering a sense of connection within the community ❤ Jarno from Easy Finnish
Final achievement: made it into a MKBHD video 😁 You're absolutely right on this one! Although I believe it requires a skill to delegate (cut off arms). A skill I had trouble with. I have huge respect for small businesses and channels with a small team that succeed at this. It ain't easy, I can tell now 🙂
We in turn have huge respect that you and your team taught us so well and helped many of us make our starts easier. Really hope to see you find passion again and some day to meet again.
As a project manager, too many people ignore the fact that you have to trust the person or people around you to help. Be it coworkers, friends or family. Everyone learns at a different rate and even a different way (visual or textbook). Yeah you have to have the patience and support. I've always said I was a jack of all trades but master of none. And that's okay.... I don't need to be the master, I have good people around who with their skill sets can help the team get on track and hit the finish line (or target date) I think personally not everyone is a manager or something like a project manager. That too is okay, we definitely need reliable coworkers or staff to focus on a few things rather than split with tons of work. That is a recipe for disaster imo Trust is earned but trust can only be earned when people get out of their own comfort zones and take a chance on someone or something they don't normally do. Listening is key. And for me personally, taking good notes is always key and important.
🔖Meanwhile rage-bait channels are getting all the views. Just pick a subject to rant about and there you go, that's your content for the day. It's so low effort. Long form content that take 2 weeks to write cannot compete with that..
thanks so much for putting this up as a musician and creator who is trying to establish herself and struggling to find the balance in all this, i can really relate. The analogies were very eloquent and intelligent and gave me hope and a feeling that it's normal what i'm going through. thank you! 💕
I appreciate you making this video and putting it out there for everyone to see. I just so happen to come on your channel since it's been a long minute and stumbled on this video. It's something I needed to hear going into a different work field in general. I'm on that path where I'm trying to figure out my passion is and what is worth my diligence and time. Listening to you gave me a little different perspective and I think it will help me down the road. Much love and kudos to you for being where you're at today! 🙌🏻😎
Now this has come full circle. I became aware of the new set of TH-camr creator, quitting videos, based on a tweet that you put out a week ago on X. Great stream of consciousness, post! Had a kind of Coltrane solo vibe to it. It started inside and then you started improvising way outside the changes with your octopus analogy. Totally dug that! Thanks 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Well said Rick. I watched your video and then this one. Food for thought for us TH-camrs for sure. Nice Coltrane point. This makes me think more of Marty Friedman's solos ;)
I connect to this so much being a 27 year old ceo for a food brand. Every single thing you said is true and I hope everyone hears you clearly. You have to be good at everything to a degree, but you also need to be good at getting rid of tasks and managing people. The future of wealth is owning your situation and being at your speed on the treadmill. Thanks Marques
Yeah I was thinking about it when he says "Creative Jobs don't scale like regular Jobs". But to some degree that is true of most Jobs. Engineering, programming, brick laying, marketing, waiting, cooking all don't just scale where you get to make more money doing the same thing. The job of a CEO is very different to the job of doing whatever that company does. I suppose one difference is that with TH-cam you earn basically nothing until you're big enough that you have to focus on these other aspects of it.
@@FreelyGiveI was going to say that too. Great video but a lot of non creative jobs (im an office worker) has the same thing. even doctors and nurses (see Scrubs, season 2 finale)
As someone who is going through a transition career-wise who has also thought about going all in on TH-cam from time to time, this resonates quite a lot. Thank you for making this.
As a person in their 50s, this is one of the most insightful videos I’ve seen. This advice is not only good for “You Tubers,” but for any career person in general. Every high schooler and college student should see this- regardless what they inspire to do in life. Wow!
New Creator that just climbed on the treadmill chiming in, this video gave me some great reflection on what being a "Professional TH-camr" is. For me, it's been alot of work but I'm enjoying the process and I'm looking forward to uncovering all the pieces while holding onto being creative. Thanks for the insight
Thanks for your advise. I really needed that because there is no one teaching, showing what is really going on. You have always been an honest person with regards to this. Thanks again for being real.
Hey man! I've been watching your videos for years. Before I was even in a creative field, and now I am! It definitely is my dream job, people do get burnt out for sure. I've struggled to understand why the older generations want out of the industry, I love the work but I can see in a few decades being taxed by it. Hope to see you on here for years to come, good to see professional perspective from a peer at the same age range. Thanks for the hard work!
Great advice and Yep It's a dream job and so grateful we can do this, but it is way more hours than many people think. Just like anything it has its ups and downs for sure. Finding what works for you and working on a scale that works for you takes time to figure out. Either way all those videos resonate with any full time creator.
i would suggest that even smaller youtubers (like ourselves) have a strong sense of what advice and wisdom is shared. Common sense will make you digest it's meaning a great deal.
No ad interruption. No shiny objects for b roll video to cut to. No frame switching 15 times a minute. Honest. Eloquent. Felt like Marques was in my living room. THIS is what TH-cam’s supposed to be about. Marques, can I grab you a drink bro? Awesome video.
I also dislike the fake uptones or “hype” in videos, just speak normally not like you’re trying to sell a product for 15 minutes. I get it the video is the “product” but it easy to tell who’s faking for the camera.
Marques, what you so clearly and eloquently share in this video regarding a TH-camr job applies perfectly to everyone who decides to become an entepreneur and -in the track of growth- faces that “octopus challenge” presented here. Great message: THANKS.
So true. I am over 5 years in and I share testimonies and miracles. It’s been amazing but it’s also a lot of work. I didn’t monetize my channel. It takes a lot of time to preview guests, read their book, record, edit, write, graphics, social posts…reply, etc. As a busy mom of 2 I find I am getting a little burned out. It has been wonderful but people really have no idea how much it takes to keep it going. I may cut back my content or pause. I don’t know yet. You made great points here. ❤
Great response man and love the analogies! For me, the only thing with cutting off the "arms" is that you still have to manage those arms and I am a terrible manager lol. So I've just not scaled up and cut back on content.
it shows, high production is nice sometimes but the more personal (and still very well produced) videos you make are really refreshing especially from a large creator. I like the direction your channel has gone a lot
“So I’ve just not scaled up and cut back on content” and it’s working for you. I’m doing the same and I’ve only been doing TH-cam properly for about 6 months 😂
Your analogy is really similar to the book "e-myth revisited" if you're the best baker people tell you to open a bakery, then you realize that managing staff and ordering inventory is the job and not baking cakes.
This was an excellent video. The growing pains that you’re speaking about are actually very common and lots of areas of industry. The restaurant industry, for example. That industry has a lot of failure in it for this very reason. A chef loves to cook, and gets the joy in cooking for other people, and then thinks the logic responses to start a restaurant. And then, as the restaurant you spend more of your time working on the business end of it and teaching others to do the thing you love to do, which is the cooking. The answer? Others to take on the pieces that are stealing away your first love so that you can go back to focusing on what made you great… financially possible, of course.
This applies to any business, not only to the business of TH-camrs. That's why way more people should listen to this. If you are an expert on something and want to have your own business, you will soon shift to manager and it takes different skill set and it's taking a lot of time to manage everything. Great analogy-filled and advice-filled video 👏
Yeah, I was listening to his story and was thinking, thats pretty much the same as with any other self-empliyed business. If you are scalling up, you are progressively doing less and less of the "basic" stuff that you were doing when you started. If you want to scale, you have to become the manager and delegate the other stuff. If you want to just be a creative TH-camr than don't grow out of it. It is a matter of choice, not everybody needs to be huge enterprise channel with millions and millions of subscribers.
Agreed. It's not because the job is creative, it's because a lot of TH-camrs work for themselves. If you work for a big channel, then it is a regular job.
Came to the comments to post exactly this. It's 100% the story of any sole proprietorship. I recommend the book Systemogy; lot of good discussions at how to scale a small business. In reality it happens in any career to someone who is successful. As you gain more success, you do less and less of the work that got you there, and more and more BS / admin / mentoring / etc. It's just that most people don't do it live on a public video every day.
"Pick the right speed on the treadmill." Man, that resonates. I'm trying to branch away from my day job, and it feels like I've got one leg each on two different treadmills.
It's interesting, on my path as a new teacher, watching and listening to TH-camrs describe the process. It parallels a lot of the feelings that go into our careers - how it feels like you're always trying to keep up, running constantly, how it consumes your life. It's an art, a passion. If you don't remind yourself of the core of why you are there often, you will lose yourself to burnout. I relate a lot to Mattpat, how he said it's best to end on a high note. I think it's why we lose a lot of teachers - to quote Harvey Dent, you either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain.
As someone running a computer repair shop business full time while trying to scale a channel with crazy growth, this video is reassuring that I’m not alone in my struggle. Literally another full time job.
Love you Salem! You're truly T H E G R E A T E S T T E C H N I C I A N T H A T S E V E R L I V E D. I wish you the best of luck! (You got me into fixing laptops as a hobby, thank you for that)
Great thoughts and thinking as usual, love it. And also love seeing the shift in mindset from more, money, fame to more being in the moment and having fun doing something creative in the first place. People naturally love to have fun and other people love to join in but business kills all the fun
This is so much NOT just about TH-camrs or creators. As you get into management you can lose what you loved about any job, for example. Thanks for this video!
Agree.. it’s like entrepreneurship.. seems like the bigger it gets.. the more people do end up not “ loving it’ But the small business can still stay creative passionate.. and not burn out.
Yup. Appreciate the insight in the challenges that creators face. Great video. The scalability challenges and treadmill experience isn't as unique for creators as it is made out to be though, it applies to other entrepreneurial ventures and career paths as well. All entrepreneurial ventures can grow rapidly and managing that growth becomes challenging regardless of what it is. Career paths that lead to high level management can also become challenging. I know that it isn't the intent of the video to say that being a creator is harder than all other jobs but at times it comes off that way.
As someone who's lucky enough to be full time on TH-cam for 3+ years now, 6+ years in total on the platform and 1,300+ videos it really is an astounding amount of work. I taught myself iMovie, then Final Cut Pro, shooting on an iPhone then learning my Sony a7IV, then learning how to edit S-log footage, then actual color grading, setting up pro level mics. Learning basic image editing, SEO, thumbnail design, video structures/engagement, studying video analytics. Countless hours of work and stress to be in this sought after role. It's brutal work at times yet so enjoyable and fun at times. I think of it like, "go make a movie...that's due tomorrow. Great, now do it again, and again and again". The treadmill, the octopus, all great analogies. After running for too long on the treadmill at times I definitely agree that balance is so important.
Marques always has The Insight on things going on in the internet. This makes a lot of sense and has me thinking on things as I grapple with where I want to go in my own creative endeavors. I'll be keeping this video in mind.
Really love the octopus analogy! I’ve had to learn so many different things over 10 years to become a full-time creator from all kinds of camera settings, lighting techniques, animating, etc. It’s hard to imagine letting go of an octopus arm and allowing someone else to control a part of my channel, but I feel like that’s going to be inevitable if I want to grow to the next level. Very blessed to be on this treadmill though! For creators trying to make this a career: There’s 2 ways you can approach this. 1) Try something, fail, and get discouraged. Or 2) Try something, fail, and keep going until you figure it out. If you keep trying to figure it out, you will eventually, so keep learning and don’t give up! 🙏🏻
Ngl what u said really helps me lot to understand that sucess comes from failure, experience and improvements. I believe keep our mental and physical health check is one of the way for keep moving forward without any burnout and self doubts, thanks for ur words!
@@dumb_art156 Exactly! “Success comes from failure, experience, and improvements” is a really great way to word it 😄 Glad I could help! Now keep creating and reach your goals!!! 💪🏻
Hey Marques! As a new TH-camr, this video really resonates with me, and I can't help but think about how it relates to your journey as a seasoned content creator. It's so true that being a TH-camr might seem like a dream job, but it comes with its own set of challenges and complexities. Your content has always been top-notch, and I admire the way you handle your channel. I think finding that balance between external goals like growth and fame, and the internal motivation of simply enjoying the creative process, is crucial for creators like you. This video reminds us all to be deliberate about our TH-cam careers, preserving what we truly love about creating content while delegating tasks that can lead to burnout. As a new TH-camr, I appreciate these valuable insights and consider them as gems of wisdom. Thanks for sharing your journey with us, Marques! It's a valuable reminder for all creators, including those who look up to you. 🙌🎥💡
I retired in 2020 after 36 years in IT, the last 21 in cybersecurity. I cannot tell you how many career burnouts I hit along the way. My only hope was that I would be able to hobble along until I could get my head back in the game. There were times when I was on top, there were more times when I was just struggling to not make a target of myself. I finally hit that point where my age and income really could not save me if I hit the next on-coming burnout, and when the company asked for "volunteers" for early retirement, my hand shot up. It's that realization that - you just don't want to play any more. It's no longer interesting and there is nothing and no one in the field to spark your enthusiasm. I retired in 2020. Best freaking decision of my life!
I think the problem is partially this idea that you just shouldn't retire. So many people "retire" and then just end up going part-time or doing consulting, which sort of defeats the point depending on how hard you go
I commented under a video that what happens when youtubers get burnout and their income depends on their youtube channel and people seemed to missed the point. Having a career and not a job allows you to switch jobs when you're bored and eventually work towards that retirement. Young youtubers are hot not and really blew up in 2020 and I find that they repeat the same shit over and over...yea, the audiences changes but that will become boring for the content creator who realizes that I've said this a million times before what can I do next.
I think I can speak for a lot of people when I say, it's quite refreshing to see Marques still being genuine and 'real' after getting so big. So many creators, once they've 'made it', completely start to change for the worse.
For example, UK youtubers Danny Aarons and Angry Ginge. Before they blew up they were funny and normal but now they are everywhere and act like a pair of twats
I have a travel/ theme park channel, and I realized having fun with your videos and enjoying the process creates constant creativity. Love what you do 🥃
Thanks for the insight. I'm going to share this with all of my young colleagues in media who have quit or are dreaming about quitting their traditional media jobs to go independent.
wow you can say things so beautifully and clearly. This confirms for me that I am doing well. I haven't been doing it for very long but I really enjoy doing it. I have seen many videos in which they give certain advice on how to best have a TH-cam channel, but it makes me so unhappy. I just follow my own path in this. I also learn a lot about myself. I also had to get used to seeing myself on video, but that is quite a process😂 Thank you for this video!
I’d argue that a regular career can go along the same path as a creator career. I work as an analyst, I’m a senior analyst with a couple of direct reports. I’m able to still do the part I enjoy (analysis). My boss is like me and likes the analysis, but due to other parts of his job namely facing off to stakeholders and managing the team. He has to let us get on with the analysis now. What you’re describing is the same in that as your grow, you need to learn when to let go and let other people be the ‘worker bees’.
You hit the nail on the head with this one! The biggest lesson I’ve had to learn is that you CANNOT do everything on your own… the creation of content stays in the center of everything, and all the other pieces get outsourced! Being a jack of all trades is the fastest way to burnout! It sounds good but it’s DANGEROUS ‼️
It depends on what you want to achieve. Doing my channel I enjoy all of it, editing, filming etc… I guess I would outsource editing at some point. But then what I do, probably read the books I’ve been wanting to read for years now. 😅
Couldn’t agree more! The octopus analogy is perfect and sums up my life. I contemplated hiring someone to help but couldn’t get round to it. I love the process too much. If my channel does scale more in the future I’ll recess. I do feel it though, between TH-cam / Instagram / running a full time photography / creative business / normal life etc. it’s tiring. It’s non stop.
Two points come to mind. First, my mother taught me something important when I was really young. Decide whether you are a leader or a worker. Leaders will shoulder the burden of responsibility and all the rewards that come with risk and control. Workers will maintain routine, creative, reliable employment. Decide which is at your core and follow that path. Second point. Your description of chasing opportunity that leads to overhead and oversight, drawing you away from creativity is shared by many others. Generally speaking we learn to Walk then Run then Fly... and it's all so natural for this to happen. I suspect youtubers aren't aware of the formula until the reality of a living wage is dangled just within reach and then... the chase is on.
As a senior software engineer, whose main job is engineering and developping software, I can tell you that a lot of jobs actually scale that way: Nowadays I find it harder and harder to code since I also have to manage and mentor my juniors, meet with clients, handle process stuff, plan project stuff with the pm, plan company tech stuff with the cto and architects, and a lot of other stuffs than my actual core job. Yes, those are sorta fulltime jobs, at a lower level, but altogether they are what makes a senior software engineer, because that's what's needed for the whole machine to function. Some might have different experiences, or more focus on the coding part, due to a different repartition of responsabilities, as I'm sure that there are "princess" youtubers that don't want to manage anything else and recruit someone for that, but that's it basically. What you experienced is just promoting yourself from junior youtuber to senior, hell, even boss youtuber I would say. But yeah, clearly that's not for everyone. Sometimes I wonder if I would be happier as a freelance expert developper and just sell myself to code fulltime and stop bothering with longterm company or project stuff too, that or if I even still love coding. That's what some call a burnout.
Yeah, what this dude (I don't watch his channel), just described in this video is just the reality of being a business-owner in any business. All these TH-camrs that love to call themselves "Creators" seem to be forgetting that their channels are their brands, and their brand is a business, and they are the business owner. If you love baking and you start a bakery that winds up being successful, you'll go through this same experience, if you love tinkering with cars and you start an auto-body shop that is successful you'll go through this same experience. Everything said in this video is just common sense that you'll hear about if you talk to anyone who runs a business. If you love to do something and turn it into your job, eventually you won't have much time left to do the thing you love anymore unless you let other people take the reins. I clicked on the video hoping to hear some unique insider perspective on YouTubing as a job and some opinion maybe on the changing landscape and why it's different than things originally were, and how that's leading to these people quitting, but I just got a generic explanation of the reality of running any business as it scales. Like most things in life, the truth is disappointingly banal.
Fully agree and had the same thoughts. Nearly any other job scales the exact same way at some point if you get more responsibility. Creators are business owners...and the same rules apply to them as to any other business owner.
Came to say this. Software engineering definitely, also in the consulting realm - potentially any job in any realm - you can choose to continue to do the fun 'thing' that the job originally is, or you can start to lead or manage teams, at that point you trade the fun 'thing' for all the back office elements (expenses, leave management, HR issues, hiring, firing, performance reviews etc.). There seem to be 2 different job types - 1) where growing is a choice (eg. SE or sales person) - you can make just as much money being an expert in those areas as a manager might; 2) where you are stuck on a pay grade UNLESS you take that growth into leadership (eg. teachers).
Perfectly well said 🙌 Something we're grappling with here at Viva La Dirt League. Burnout is a real thing and we're actively looking to keep this sustainable for ourselves!
I thank you and think that you accurately defined the transformation required in "any" job that one undertakes in their life journey. The prospect of doing everything well is a myth and needs to be understood at the fundamental base of the journey/job. The quote, "Do what you love," means exactly that. It's not complicated yet we make it so. Your perspective in insights are invaluable and again, I thank you as a beginning YT content creator~
That “scale up” problem is real in a lot of careers. I worked in corporate doing work I enjoyed and as I moved up it was all management and less of what I actually liked. Eventually I quit, started freelancing, and decided to forgo growth for joy.
"A dream job is still a job" is the realest thing to take away here. It's easy to look at TH-camrs who are burnt out or moving on and whinge about it because they're doing what they love for a living. But think about any passion - sports, writing, music - there's definitely a threshold that you can cross which takes the love out of the passion and I have a lot of respect for everyone who is brave enough to step away from TH-cam for whatever reason.
it's also easy for us to say this in our position, but if we were having brands looming over us with insane sums of money it's difficult to say whether we would be mature enough to step back too lol
I found this video to be so helpful. Especially the treadmill analogy. Marques, my dad was one of your biggest fans. He passed away last year and every time I see one of your videos I think of him. He would often send me your videos to encourage me with my own channel. He was 76 when he passed. I just wanted you to know that. ♥ ~ Jennifer
I feel like some just realize they have made money and want more free time . Let’s be honest yall make bank . That guy doing audits says he makes 1.2 M a year from TH-cam . He has two employees that he pays 80+k . Yall get use to that and want more time . In sure you’ll take it for granted and don’t even realize it. And I think that’s natural. No hate in that.
But just like every single other video on the subject, all this is is a list of reasons why someone would retire at all, not why everyone is retiring at the same time. It's not an intentional strawman, but it does ignore the main part of the question: Why are youtubers retiring NOW?
Great advice! ("Keep the creativity part at the core of what you're doing"). Thanks. I teach digital marketing at a college and a few students have started Instagram channels, which is great. Two students started a TH-cam channel reviewing hip hop albums and they're doing great. My advice would be to just EXPRESS YOURSELF. Not necessarily on TH-cam, but on ANY channel you resonate with, whether it's Facebook (like I do, being an obsessive writer lol) or Linkedin or Tik Tok (wait, Tik Tok is very toxic, just my opinion) or X. From a career or economics standpoint, people have to realize that social platforms give them ENORMOUS power. Eventually, they'll find a way to monetize their content, but it's important to START CREATING CONTENT (blogs, videos, podcasts, whatever). In fact, the timing is right since AI is probably going to eliminate most, if not all, non-creative jobs (including knowledge work jobs requiring a university degree). I have a 15-year-old nephew who started composing music and he's on Spotify! Kids, the world is yours! Go for it!
The octopus example just hit me hard. I think I was the octopus a couple of months ago for 5+ years; I was doing everything: taking way more than I could handle, getting a bonus --> buying real estate, more money in Airbnb than the rental, making it Airbnb, doing consulting work after 9-5, I love to write a blog (blogging before 8 AM or after 6 PM), if the blog is paying good, create another niche based, that niche is doing great, make another sub-niche, there is no F... end. I had to cut my arms, but as Mkbhd said, not all the arms would disable me permanently; I cut the arms in which I was weak or trying to be the best and hired some people who were doing a way better job than me. Now, I am focusing on three things I genuinely enjoy. Although your analogies are a little strange, they make more sense when you connect the dots. Thanks, brother!
I actually think your description of how the TH-camr job scales matches a lot of real world job scaling, especially office-type jobs. For example, as a programmer you start coding all day every day. You’re being creative and just solving problems and it’s awesome. When presented with opportunities to take on more responsibility and advance in your track you end up narrowing your focus a bit and you do less of the original job. That can continue on as you become a technical lead, a manager, and ultimately either a “high level thinker” or maybe even executive. No matter how you advance in that field it always requires doing less of the original thing that you loved.
Marques can you not scare us with a title like this
He can quit right now and retire. He’s got more than enough money to retire
Like bruh😭
I read it as I'm "Quitting" TH-cam
Fr
Exactly
If you start feeling burned out.... cut off an arm. Got it.
@JerryRigEverything I'd say start off with a level 6 scratch on surface and take it from there 👍
Yo Zac love your videos. Can't believe we watched this at the same time.
I’m a little worried now please don’t cut off any arms lol😂
and replace it with high end android phones
And then see if it's held together by glue or those great pull tags.
I'm not a content creator by any means, but I cannot express how much this video has helped me come to understand what I'm feeling and why something needs to change. Thank you for all you do, and for all the greats who are putting themselves first!
Glad you put this up, Marques. 😊
😊😊😊😊😊😊😢😢😢😢😢😢😮😮😮😮😊😊😊
😳
I relate so hard to what you said about not being able to review all three phones in front of you - I used to want to try and cover every single new thing that I could buy or that arrived with me. I felt like each was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I'd feel stupid to let pass me by
But when your content becomes better, and the time required for every single part of the process goes up, not to mention your standards get higher, it becomes completely unfeasible and you have to pick and choose.
Here's to making more things just because we enjoy them!
Achha
Thanks for this Arun! You're doing amazing!!!
Says the biased Apple fanboy😂
too long, didn't read.
fourth
Nearly 20 years doing this now, ive resisted having a cameraman/editor/ team etc as the thing that made youtube so good back in the day was it was normal people and there mates doing awesome stuff and i've always felt if i get a team of people behind the scenes i start to become a TV show or a manager so my work process today is the same as back in 2006 lol. Its put a limit on the amount of content but thats all. My only tip at present is KEEP ON DIGGING. Great vid Marques as usual.
never missed a single video and still going strong 💪🏻
I completely agree with this mindset while it will improve the efficiency of certain things, it will definitely dull down the things you can do. As you can't take the same risks once you build a team. No offense to LMG/Linus Tech Tips, but they're a good example of this. They've grown so fast over the years that they can't do anything simple anymore without some sort of involved process. It makes everything very corporate feeling (which it is in their case).
I still can't get over how much you have hauled out by hand in those bucket thingies. I've dug a bunch of holes by hand, but my back groans for at least a week after doing about 1% of what I've seen in your vids. 😖
Please don't stop though! Haha.
Colin is my favorite content creator hands down. I’ve never sat and thought about why that is the case, but you just explained it for me. It really does feel like just a cool guy filming all the cool stuff he wants to do. It does absolutely feel like content from the early days of TH-cam.
The legend
Very well said. Even outside of TH-cam, starting a business of any kind can be very difficult. Especially when it starts to grow and you begin the process of adding different levels of responsibility to your team in order to maintain it. This video definitely makes all of the sense in the world to me and it is very helpful. Thank you for it.
Great video! Very well said. Having been on this platform now for 18 years - I totally feel every single word you said. I "left" TH-cam as my full-time job almost six years ago now, and it was such a good decision for me. I don't have to focus on maintaining all 8 of my octopus tentacles, but instead can work with a larger team and just stick to my core competences and "heart."
Loved all the disparate analogies here - you get it.
😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😏😏😏😏😲
They are quiting.....
because some people are fed up, that
people are pointing finger on everybody to make profit
instead of finding healthy solutions that help our society and community and inspire people in healthy way.
we became a society of "pointing finger on everybody" because its profitable,
but it doesn´t make the society happy and productive,
we are suposed to find solution to healthy lifestyle.
not pointing finger on our neighbors, on certain group of people, on old people, or on young people, on vegetarian people, on broken people on healthy people
we are supposed to feel empathy and find solutions
It solves nothing, it just contributes to more and more problems and less and less happiness, less and less satisfaction.
I am fed up that youtube constantly sends me videos where people trow trash on each other and analyze celebrities and nonsense.
We all do it at some point, but some people do it so often that they dont realize how unhappy it makes them feel.
Tom Scott did it best. He told us a year in advance what was going to happen and he followed through. He is an awesome person and I wish him the best.
Markiplier did it best with unus annus 🤭 Although he's still on the platform as himself 😋
yuh
What if you don’t know a year in advance? It’s not like there’s a notice period for quitting your own business.
@@marcellkovacs5452 I’m not necessarily saying the other ways are bad, just that Scott did it best. I understand life happens and you can’t plan for everything.
@@SyntheticFuture you just contradicted yourself with the second sentence. I watch Mark but Unus Anus was meh ngl it felt like a 2nd channel just to shill merch and legally call it "limited-time only"
What's weird is... even if you never cater to the algorithm, ignore pressure to post frequently, don't sell any merch, and avoid management headaches by never expanding to a team, continuing to make videos the same way you always have... you can experience burnout. I've heard.
Dw cap. I'll wait another 2 years if I have to for a debunk
Yeah. Burn out is inevitable with any reptition (even of a good thing) as well as age. It's just part of life in general.
The Big D is here! You're an inspiration to us all.
Cap D is burnt out? :(
You could post a video every 8 years and I'd watch every single one, Cap'n D
I think the trick is youtube creator jobs actually DO scale like regular jobs - what you're describing is very similar to how most small businesses scale (your job becomes more and more overhead and coordination). For example, it's not that different than trying to scale a plumbing business. The biggest difference seems to me that you still need to be the "star", which makes it hard to naturally transition into a management / owner role because you can't delegate that role easily. A lot of these "quitting youtube" videos seem to happen when creators reach the level of scale that they realize they need to delegate the star role, and that requires a conversation with fans to reassure them and try to keep them onboard through the transition (Linus Media Group seems like a great example of this).
Yeah it sounds like the entrepreneur creative journey is this but when you are the brand more than what you make being the brand.
I appreciate your honesty! As a fellow TH-camr who started a few months ago and focuses on hair tutorial videos, I totally relate to the part about "cutting some arms," which, for me, one of the arms I will like to cut off is the editing process. As I grow and evolve, seeking help with editing is something I'll likely explore.
I've noticed many big creators expressing a desire to quit. In my view, pacing oneself can indeed help reduce burnout. I'm committed to keeping the creative process enjoyable - it should be fun, not a chore. Let's continue creating and enjoying the journey
"You are making stuff. And that's the fun." You've kept focused on that and it's inspiring. Thanks for showing the way!
I was thinking about the stuff you've said whilst watching this video
Dis is da wei
Thank you Mrs😊
I’ve watched almost your videos, but didn’t realize I wasn’t subscribed! Fixed! ❤
Cleooo, looking forward to another colab🙌🏿
Didn’t think I’d be getting a MKBHD shout out for quitting TH-cam 😂 great insights! For me I don’t feel burnt out but I do feel the need to stop the machine for a bit, slow down, learn, recalibrate and give myself time to figure out what the next phase is. Whether that’s coming back to TH-cam but doing it differently or doing something completely different. It’s just very hard to do that figuring out while keeping the machine going. Anyways thanks man 🙏🏻
two actually lol
I follow most of you on TH-cam and have learned so much. However , I completely understand the break that is needed! You have my support 100%!
ai:7
Brah I don't know you or honestly ever heard of you or your channel, but I can see why you deserve your subscribers. Good, genuine communicators are what we all want and I applaud all of you content creators who don't fall into the Death of a Salesman trap. The medium and era may be different, the sliding scale of value and worth may be different, but never forget your worth and NEVER sell too much of yourself for too cheap. Love the treadmill analogy. Best of luck
Matti! I grew up watching your videos now that I'm older I wanna do TH-cam just like you and many creators thanks for inspiring us youngsters🙌
I 100% agree. As a content creator in China for around 7 years now with over a million followers, I can tell you that making sure that you're still spending at least 60-70% of your time doing the part of content creation that you love, but also remembering that you can sometimes slow down to a walk, and speed up to a jog or run when it comes to the number of videos you're making is totally ok. It's not all or nothing for the entire time. It's your career, and you get to decide because burnout sucks! And the whole point of working for yourself is YOU get to make the rules.
I really needed this right now. I'm by no means a big creator, but the pressure still mounts at times. Thank you for putting this so eloquently and for the great insights.
Not growing is always an option. I want to keep things small.
Agreed.
This is something a lot of people discount without realising I feel. Chasing to grow in their revenue and audience size only to come to hate what it does to their creativity and the work they conduct themselves in.
I personally related to what Tom Scott said in his not-quite-leaving video, about hating the idea of being a manager. I've always said couldn't be a CEO and would never want to be. To a lot of people, that's me limiting myself, or not being, "ambitious". In reality, I'm merely aware of where I'm most happy and most comfortable.
An executive office and the money that comes with it wouldn't make me happier, but the consequences and responsibilities of those achievments would make me miserable.
Also the Tom Scott reference missed that he added other content over the years that isn’t stoping, just the original series that has been going for 10 years.
@smartereveryday This explains so much. I was just looking at your cadence of videos a few days ago and found my assumption blown away that there wasn't the forced posting to feed an algorithm that other creators have.
Given how memorable your content has been, I truly believed you had cranked more content out. Which truly says everything that the quality of the idea and the merit of the content matters most. A need to rewatch for deeper nuggets and the shareability of the message creates in views. A Seinfeld eque approach.
While I was hearing Marques I don't know why but I just though about you and your channel. I was hopping to know that you will keep your channel focus on what makes your mind curious and just spread that excitement as always (It's laminar flow, we all know lol). Anyways, I still feel the excitement and curiosity in your eyes when you talk about something, it doesn't matter if you are looking to water, rockets, carburetors, just visited a farm, talk to NASA or the president. I don't know if this will reach you but thanks for sharing your point of view and I hope you don't get any pressure chasing the algorithm because channels like yours do a big impact and should be preserved as they are.
"A dream job, is still a job" is very well said. Work-life balance is very important.
Ah yes, a youtube anomaly.
Yo wait what?
Over 5 million botted subs is crazy
@@daz-ut1sdTruly sad to see.
how 5 million subs??
Timestamped Highlights:
0:18 🎥 TH-camrs quitting, retiring, or cutting back on TH-cam
1:42 🌟 TH-cam as a dream job and its growing complexity
3:07 🏀 TH-cam as being a professional athlete
5:03 ⚖ Creative jobs don’t scale like regular jobs
7:40 🏃♂ Avoiding burnout and finding the right pace on the treadmill
10:43 🐙 Octopus analogy: multiple roles of a TH-cam creator
12:15 ✂ Getting help and delegating tasks effectively
Supported by NoteGPT
not all hero's wear a Cape. Thanks Champ
I gotta say. Your octopus analogy applies outside of the creative space, to anyone who is working with or managing teams. It’s smart to know your own strengths and fill that role as best you can while relying on and trusting others to do what you’re not great at and reaching the same goal. Great vid
In summary: become a comfortably jogging two-legged octopus and buy six more treadmills for each of the other 6 legs and make sure to keep your three hearts intact
A statement even MR Beast would be proud of
Don't forget you're dribbling a basketball on the treadmills
Nice one 😂😂😂😂😂😂@@vandalist57
Surely that's another 3 treadmills for the rest 6 of the legs? 😜
He didnt say 6 exactly but you get it
The octopus analogy is actually so accurate
Wow bro
The relief I felt when Marques said catch you guys in the next one lol
so who would be the octopus teacher?
The only problem with "everyone wanting to become a TH-camr" is that it doesn't produce any tangible products. Entertainment and information yes, but nothing of real tangible value.... like it or not.
Octopus? Right now I feel like a centipede
Oh man, everything you said hits so close to home 😪
Hehe 2 likes
@@_TheRandomChannellike your edits videos 😊😊😊😊😊
@@-KAWAAKOKAWAAMKAWAAAAAAAAAAAlike your comment 😁😁😁😁😁😁
who cares. why do you people care about lieks.@@_TheRandomChannel
True, everything Marques said isn't even specific to being a youtuber. It applies to any profession, particularly if you're self employed - you have to wear multiple hats and if you're successful you either end up turning down work or employing/managing people to keep up. Even in regular jobs, you get employed to do something but as soon as you want to get a promotion the higher you go the further away from doing the thing you were originally doing you get.
It's refreshing to hear a realistic and thoughtful perspective on the complexities of being a content creator. Your analogies really hit home and made the message clear.
I totally resonate with what you've expressed here. The TH-camr job is more multifaceted than most people understand and the burnout is real. Keep your passion at the core of everything you do and remember why you started.
Its a crybaby problem. These youtubers need to step up there game and dont cry about it…..
I have yet to post a video, but it's been my biggest source of information and entertainment for about seven years. I have strong feelings about the platform and a hope for the future of it. Those who started out as pure creatives, and found themselves at that point where they had to choose to either create less, and manage more, or continue to progress in creating, and earn less, I hope those who chose to manage, will be able to pass the creative torch to younger creatives.
TH-cam's going to keep changing, in ways that many of us don't like. Some things it changes, will be for the better.🤞 But as the platform attracts more corporate firms, it would be nice to see a line of torch-bearers, continue to pass that torch.
He did not mention the most important thing in this whole story which is money and wealth. the question is how much did all those youtubers make before making the conscious decision of retiring or quitting or whatever ! i find the video quite misleading and deceptive because there was a deliberate effort to avoid talking about that !
@@maxgibifywhy don’t you just go take their place bud.
@@maxgibifyit’s a SUPER crybaby problem. Like there’s no physical labor they have teams to edit, come up with idea and they get plenty of free products. Plus making more money than most people with degrees. He gets to go to award shows. Meet with the head of Apple. But these people are burned out because “I have to make videos and travel”😂😂😂😂
I almost had a heart attack when the notification popped up. I’m happy we still we have you around MKBHD.
same
Same
Aywhaa akhi
I knew he was pulling my leg. He's having too much fun and getting free new stuff sent to you all the time is likely a blast. If he ever gets kids, he might change gears.
So what you’re saying is it worked lmao
Man 2008 is when your channel started. I was still in Highschool back then. I'm glad you're not leaving us and thanks for keeping it real.
This is part of the magic of your brand the way you articulate the subject you're discussing makes it easy to follow, I love your channel and have been faithful to your brand for Years now
My answer has been to save some videos for myself. Just make something for me, without help. It may not even be for TH-cam. Use the scale to keep the machine going. To pay the bills. The trap is chasing money. Creativity is always at arms reach if we ignore the game
Do I get it right that you want some videos to be perfect and others that are good enough, so they can be released in time?
Which, I gotta say, is a really great way.
I'm not a patreon, but I do wonder how you communicate that to your patreons?
Good post. I love your channel.
Great video (as always). I went through this as a writer before I experienced it as a TH-camr. I always dreamt of being a published novelist (and with good reason; it's a wonderful job), and I spent a lot of time doing it for free before anyone ever paid me. But the creativity part of writing, while of course it's at the center of the work, is only part of the story. You also have to think about invoicing and net-45 payment schedules and marketing your books effectively and collaborate with designers and editors and audiobook producers and foreign language agents and so on. All of this is great work, of course--it's inherent to your dreams coming true, which is of course an amazing experience--but it's very difficult to remain creative while also doing a good job of the other stuff, and "the other stuff" becomes a bigger and bigger part of your job. This is one reason why I used to publish a book every other year and now it's every four or five. With TH-cam, it's even more extreme, because there is even less support, and the business models aren't as mature. And when people feel like they've lived the dream, and now they're ready to go on and live another life, I think we should thank and congratulate them.
Thanks as always for using your voice with such care and thoughtfulness. -John
People see a successful TH-camr and think I can do that. In reality running a creative business is all consuming. As a photographer working on making the leap to TH-cam. The amount of work involved is INSANE. To get my first video out I’ve had to learn the ins and outs of outs of shooting video, learning premier, audition & after effects, learning color grading, bashing my head against a wall matching audio tone from different sources, diving into the black hole that is licensed music, learning the tax structure for gig work, and on and on. All of that is before my first video is an even done. Even as I improve my base TH-cam skill set I learned very quickly you just can’t speed a lot of the workflow up much while still maintaining a high bar for quality. It is a dream job for someone like me but the amount of work required is far beyond 99.9% of people.
Eyyyyy, john boy! How are ya doing lad?
@@AnthonyJGianotti It's a lot of work if you want it to look professional. I make simple documentary videos so I get by with simple editing too and still don't have time to publish everything I record. Because I do that in my spare time between paying job and family.
Ya you know what sucks? Working as a teacher, putting in 16 hours daily, and getting paid 50k for your efforts.
Thank you Marques for sharing your thoughts today! Appreciate your insights on Quitting. 💝
“Do what you love. Love what you do” is on my wall above my imac for a good reason. 💖 Delegating the things you don’t love sounds like a wonderful idea. Because somebody will love to do that thing you don’t. I’m so glad you are there being an inspiration in a way that goes way beyond tech - just in your being-ness. Such good energy and authenticity - and so smart. Just some of the things we all appreciate about you. 💖
It's still wild to me that TH-cam has been around long enough for even some of the most dedicated creators to move on. The recent retirements aren't just your usual TH-camr that's been on the platform for a few years. It's creators that have been here for 10+ years, creators who were there when TH-cam was starting to take off. We're slowly moving to a new era, and it's a weird feeling as a long time user of the platform.
ok
Dope video! Always wondered your thoughts on being a TH-camr
Ten years in any job even a very well paid job is quite a long time these days. Actually the more well paid a job is the more able a person is to have options to change to another well paid job.
I haven't watched this video yet but I've heard that TH-cam has gotten really bad about demonetizing videos with no details for the demonetization. Yet they'll still run ads.
I don't know how true it is but for a lot of people this is their job. A lot of content creators have employees they need to pay.
People are getting sooo much money they could live for generations without even need to work a single day. It's only natural that some of them finally decided to just retire and live slowly. I mean even if they're no longer making youtube content, the channel are still there generating money. They don't need to worry about any financial problem, they've reach financial freedom. I would do the same.
Treadmill is 10/10 analogy. Big fan 🤠
I was about to say funny seeing you here… But it is TH-cam 😅
Glad you haven’t stopped sir!! Love your creative lightning & aesthetic
I don't even own a camera, but I'm always locked in😅 Much appreciation for your craft Pete👏🏾
peter mckinnon 📸😲
The legend
Feels like your transition to film has been you halting the scaling up to come back to the creativity a bit more. Really like that. 👍👍
Your NAILING this. Thanks fo the brilliant deep dive and honest revelations. This is also true for any other person working for himself and growing. You end up doing absolutely nothing you started off enjoying. Brilliantly you also looked at the solution and not just the problem.
He just woke up today and said "know what? I'm just gonna drop 15 minutes of insightful wisdom to my viewers today." And then he did.
“Catch you guys in the NEXT ONE.“
More relieving words were never spoken.
as someone who recently started hiring people to handle some of my editing work after 11 years of doing everything myself, it's been a huge boon to my creativity. i don't need to think about editing nearly as much, which has almost revitalized my brain and my motivation to do more interesting things.
i think a lot of people who want to start a channel really do not realize how much work it is. when i first started, i saw so many channels and people who thought they had so many good ideas for youtube, but once they exhausted those ideas, they just full stopped creating content, whether it was because they ran out of ideas, or got too tired of it. it's not enough to just have 8-10 video ideas, make them and that's it. you gotta make those and then keep it going... forever. and that is not something many people are prepared for, both physically and mentally. i'd rather be doing this than 99.9% of other jobs out there, it is a privilege to be here, the freedoms are amazing, but that doesn't mean it's all sunshine and rainbows either. you have to eat, breathe and sleep content.
facts datto
Didnt heard about you till now
Well said, Guardian!
I can relate, it's a lot more work than I initially expected. On top of the passion you want to share (mine is cooking and baking) you have to learn to master all the rest: record videos, pay attention to the lighting, edit videos in premiere pro, have decent audio, work around TH-cam limitations (e.g. a short with a big file size will see its quality crushed in half by YT), navigate through music copyrights, suffer restrictions in some countries because of the music you selected, deal with flakey analytics, try not to fall in depression when your content isn't promoted by YT, etc etc...
I believe there are basically two worlds: the big channels with an established audience who will cash youtube money until the end of time, and the small channels (like mine) who have to try and grow but where the attendance will expect the same quality as the bigger channels. Not easy, but I'm confident I will get there one day...
those who actually make content out of eating, breathing and sleeping…*twitch irl sleep streamers
Loved this video! Thank you! Love the three hearts analogy and love the transparency you shared, too!
I resonated deeply with your video about why people stop making TH-cam videos.
Your insights touched on the emotional aspects that many creators experience. Your words reminded me of the journey and passion behind content creation, and it's reassuring to know others understand the challenges.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and fostering a sense of connection within the community
❤
Jarno from Easy Finnish
Extremely well said. Watched this from start to finish and agreed with every word.
first?
Hey Nick! Sorry for your loss recently ❤
Hi nick
@@adgplaysyeah that was really unexpected
Fly high Lynja
Yo
Final achievement: made it into a MKBHD video 😁
You're absolutely right on this one! Although I believe it requires a skill to delegate (cut off arms). A skill I had trouble with. I have huge respect for small businesses and channels with a small team that succeed at this. It ain't easy, I can tell now 🙂
😊
😊
We in turn have huge respect that you and your team taught us so well and helped many of us make our starts easier. Really hope to see you find passion again and some day to meet again.
As a project manager, too many people ignore the fact that you have to trust the person or people around you to help. Be it coworkers, friends or family.
Everyone learns at a different rate and even a different way (visual or textbook). Yeah you have to have the patience and support.
I've always said I was a jack of all trades but master of none. And that's okay.... I don't need to be the master, I have good people around who with their skill sets can help the team get on track and hit the finish line (or target date)
I think personally not everyone is a manager or something like a project manager. That too is okay, we definitely need reliable coworkers or staff to focus on a few things rather than split with tons of work. That is a recipe for disaster imo
Trust is earned but trust can only be earned when people get out of their own comfort zones and take a chance on someone or something they don't normally do. Listening is key. And for me personally, taking good notes is always key and important.
🔖Meanwhile rage-bait channels are getting all the views. Just pick a subject to rant about and there you go, that's your content for the day. It's so low effort. Long form content that take 2 weeks to write cannot compete with that..
thanks so much for putting this up as a musician and creator who is trying to establish herself and struggling to find the balance in all this, i can really relate. The analogies were very eloquent and intelligent and gave me hope and a feeling that it's normal what i'm going through. thank you! 💕
I appreciate you making this video and putting it out there for everyone to see. I just so happen to come on your channel since it's been a long minute and stumbled on this video. It's something I needed to hear going into a different work field in general. I'm on that path where I'm trying to figure out my passion is and what is worth my diligence and time. Listening to you gave me a little different perspective and I think it will help me down the road. Much love and kudos to you for being where you're at today! 🙌🏻😎
As a 72yo video guy with a 53 year creative career, I can honestly say this is the best advice I have ever encountered.
your channel was made in the year i was born sir 💀
@@ali_new_worldHe didn't say he was a TH-camr.
Now this has come full circle. I became aware of the new set of TH-camr creator, quitting videos, based on a tweet that you put out a week ago on X. Great stream of consciousness, post! Had a kind of Coltrane solo vibe to it. It started inside and then you started improvising way outside the changes with your octopus analogy. Totally dug that! Thanks 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Love ur videos Rick ❤ cool to see u here
Well said Rick. I watched your video and then this one. Food for thought for us TH-camrs for sure. Nice Coltrane point. This makes me think more of Marty Friedman's solos ;)
@RickBeato, if you and Marques both quit, I am done with TH-cam.
It's called Twitter...
It's just some silly trend that's all. They're not quitting the TH-cam money 💯
I connect to this so much being a 27 year old ceo for a food brand. Every single thing you said is true and I hope everyone hears you clearly. You have to be good at everything to a degree, but you also need to be good at getting rid of tasks and managing people. The future of wealth is owning your situation and being at your speed on the treadmill. Thanks Marques
Yeah I was thinking about it when he says "Creative Jobs don't scale like regular Jobs". But to some degree that is true of most Jobs. Engineering, programming, brick laying, marketing, waiting, cooking all don't just scale where you get to make more money doing the same thing. The job of a CEO is very different to the job of doing whatever that company does.
I suppose one difference is that with TH-cam you earn basically nothing until you're big enough that you have to focus on these other aspects of it.
@@FreelyGiveI was going to say that too. Great video but a lot of non creative jobs (im an office worker) has the same thing. even doctors and nurses (see Scrubs, season 2 finale)
As someone who is going through a transition career-wise who has also thought about going all in on TH-cam from time to time, this resonates quite a lot. Thank you for making this.
"If you ever get to live the dream, be very deliberate about it!" This video resonates with me so much and Im glad you made it. Thank you.
As a person in their 50s, this is one of the most insightful videos I’ve seen. This advice is not only good for “You Tubers,” but for any career person in general. Every high schooler and college student should see this- regardless what they inspire to do in life. Wow!
New Creator that just climbed on the treadmill chiming in, this video gave me some great reflection on what being a "Professional TH-camr" is. For me, it's been alot of work but I'm enjoying the process and I'm looking forward to uncovering all the pieces while holding onto being creative. Thanks for the insight
Thanks for your advise. I really needed that because there is no one teaching, showing what is really going on. You have always been an honest person with regards to this. Thanks again for being real.
Hey man! I've been watching your videos for years. Before I was even in a creative field, and now I am! It definitely is my dream job, people do get burnt out for sure. I've struggled to understand why the older generations want out of the industry, I love the work but I can see in a few decades being taxed by it. Hope to see you on here for years to come, good to see professional perspective from a peer at the same age range. Thanks for the hard work!
Great advice and Yep It's a dream job and so grateful we can do this, but it is way more hours than many people think. Just like anything it has its ups and downs for sure. Finding what works for you and working on a scale that works for you takes time to figure out. Either way all those videos resonate with any full time creator.
Lots of video editing, Aaron. Also uploading content on a cable connection takes ages
Marcus>Pootie Pie
HI Zollo, love your vids!
i would suggest that even smaller youtubers (like ourselves) have a strong sense of what advice and wisdom is shared. Common sense will make you digest it's meaning a great deal.
No ad interruption. No shiny objects for b roll video to cut to. No frame switching 15 times a minute. Honest. Eloquent. Felt like Marques was in my living room. THIS is what TH-cam’s supposed to be about. Marques, can I grab you a drink bro? Awesome video.
Yeah. The frame switching drives me nuts on many channels. I wish people would just speak freely and normally.
I agree. I like this podcast style off the cuff presentation.
I also dislike the fake uptones or “hype” in videos, just speak normally not like you’re trying to sell a product for 15 minutes. I get it the video is the “product” but it easy to tell who’s faking for the camera.
right, but he earned this, start-out youtubers can't do this and expect to get followers, pretty meta actually
Marques, what you so clearly and eloquently share in this video regarding a TH-camr job applies perfectly to everyone who decides to become an entepreneur and -in the track of growth- faces that “octopus challenge” presented here. Great message: THANKS.
So true. I am over 5 years in and I share testimonies and miracles. It’s been amazing but it’s also a lot of work. I didn’t monetize my channel. It takes a lot of time to preview guests, read their book, record, edit, write, graphics, social posts…reply, etc. As a busy mom of 2 I find I am getting a little burned out. It has been wonderful but people really have no idea how much it takes to keep it going. I may cut back my content or pause. I don’t know yet. You made great points here. ❤
Great response man and love the analogies! For me, the only thing with cutting off the "arms" is that you still have to manage those arms and I am a terrible manager lol. So I've just not scaled up and cut back on content.
aye saf!
So I guess the arm you’ll be cutting off would be hiring a “general manager” or CEO. And remain the creative
There is an arm for that
it shows, high production is nice sometimes but the more personal (and still very well produced) videos you make are really refreshing especially from a large creator. I like the direction your channel has gone a lot
“So I’ve just not scaled up and cut back on content” and it’s working for you. I’m doing the same and I’ve only been doing TH-cam properly for about 6 months 😂
Great advice! It's important to remember why we started creating and what we loved about the process and not turn it into a rat race.
Hey Umnesh thanks for your tutorials they helped me a lot
Fancy seeing you here!
Once you realize that TH-cam is fundamentally an advertising agency, then "content creators" are nothing but producers of commercials.
Hey, it's my favorite Photoshop creator!
@@TheDanEdwards thats not entirely true.
Your analogy is really similar to the book "e-myth revisited" if you're the best baker people tell you to open a bakery, then you realize that managing staff and ordering inventory is the job and not baking cakes.
This was an excellent video. The growing pains that you’re speaking about are actually very common and lots of areas of industry. The restaurant industry, for example. That industry has a lot of failure in it for this very reason. A chef loves to cook, and gets the joy in cooking for other people, and then thinks the logic responses to start a restaurant. And then, as the restaurant you spend more of your time working on the business end of it and teaching others to do the thing you love to do, which is the cooking.
The answer? Others to take on the pieces that are stealing away your first love so that you can go back to focusing on what made you great… financially possible, of course.
This applies to any business, not only to the business of TH-camrs. That's why way more people should listen to this. If you are an expert on something and want to have your own business, you will soon shift to manager and it takes different skill set and it's taking a lot of time to manage everything. Great analogy-filled and advice-filled video 👏
That's what I was thinking! I started my own business a couple years ago and everything he said seemed to fit pretty perfectly into my experiences
Yeah, I was listening to his story and was thinking, thats pretty much the same as with any other self-empliyed business. If you are scalling up, you are progressively doing less and less of the "basic" stuff that you were doing when you started. If you want to scale, you have to become the manager and delegate the other stuff. If you want to just be a creative TH-camr than don't grow out of it. It is a matter of choice, not everybody needs to be huge enterprise channel with millions and millions of subscribers.
Agreed. It's not because the job is creative, it's because a lot of TH-camrs work for themselves. If you work for a big channel, then it is a regular job.
Came to the comments to post exactly this. It's 100% the story of any sole proprietorship. I recommend the book Systemogy; lot of good discussions at how to scale a small business.
In reality it happens in any career to someone who is successful. As you gain more success, you do less and less of the work that got you there, and more and more BS / admin / mentoring / etc. It's just that most people don't do it live on a public video every day.
thats because a youtube channel is a business in itself. The amount of people watching is the amount of people purchasing goods.
"Pick the right speed on the treadmill."
Man, that resonates. I'm trying to branch away from my day job, and it feels like I've got one leg each on two different treadmills.
It's interesting, on my path as a new teacher, watching and listening to TH-camrs describe the process. It parallels a lot of the feelings that go into our careers - how it feels like you're always trying to keep up, running constantly, how it consumes your life. It's an art, a passion. If you don't remind yourself of the core of why you are there often, you will lose yourself to burnout. I relate a lot to Mattpat, how he said it's best to end on a high note. I think it's why we lose a lot of teachers - to quote Harvey Dent, you either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain.
I love the real talk in this video and analogies you used. Really helps explain the experience.
thank you Mr HD, I'm going to work with 1 arm from now on
You need more than 2 in yours case
Can that one arm give me free glarses?
@@Kitrailers yeah just plant it somewhere and you'll get a fully grown glarses in 69 months
If anyone had High Defenition as a surname it would, in fact, be Marques
😂
As someone running a computer repair shop business full time while trying to scale a channel with crazy growth, this video is reassuring that I’m not alone in my struggle. Literally another full time job.
The greatest struggle that ever lived
Love you Salem! You're truly T H E G R E A T E S T T E C H N I C I A N T H A T S E V E R L I V E D.
I wish you the best of luck!
(You got me into fixing laptops as a hobby, thank you for that)
I’m a big fan of you the greatest technician that ever lived!
wait just a minute...are you *THE GREATEST TECHNICIAN THATS EVER LIVED?!*
The greatest struggle that ever lived
Great thoughts and thinking as usual, love it.
And also love seeing the shift in mindset from more, money, fame to more being in the moment and having fun doing something creative in the first place.
People naturally love to have fun and other people love to join in but business kills all the fun
This is so much NOT just about TH-camrs or creators. As you get into management you can lose what you loved about any job, for example. Thanks for this video!
Agree.. it’s like entrepreneurship.. seems like the bigger it gets.. the more people do end up not “ loving it’
But the small business can still stay creative passionate.. and not burn out.
Yep.
Yup. Appreciate the insight in the challenges that creators face. Great video. The scalability challenges and treadmill experience isn't as unique for creators as it is made out to be though, it applies to other entrepreneurial ventures and career paths as well. All entrepreneurial ventures can grow rapidly and managing that growth becomes challenging regardless of what it is. Career paths that lead to high level management can also become challenging. I know that it isn't the intent of the video to say that being a creator is harder than all other jobs but at times it comes off that way.
Can confirm. Sadly.
As someone who's lucky enough to be full time on TH-cam for 3+ years now, 6+ years in total on the platform and 1,300+ videos it really is an astounding amount of work. I taught myself iMovie, then Final Cut Pro, shooting on an iPhone then learning my Sony a7IV, then learning how to edit S-log footage, then actual color grading, setting up pro level mics. Learning basic image editing, SEO, thumbnail design, video structures/engagement, studying video analytics. Countless hours of work and stress to be in this sought after role. It's brutal work at times yet so enjoyable and fun at times. I think of it like, "go make a movie...that's due tomorrow. Great, now do it again, and again and again". The treadmill, the octopus, all great analogies. After running for too long on the treadmill at times I definitely agree that balance is so important.
Marques always has The Insight on things going on in the internet.
This makes a lot of sense and has me thinking on things as I grapple with where I want to go in my own creative endeavors.
I'll be keeping this video in mind.
This is one of the best video I watched after long time with great analogies. Enjoyed it. Thanks Marques
The articulation of Marques is truly something I need to learn about. No stutters, no repeating of the facts, the flow is simply amazing.
Completely agree, and it's why he's one of the best at this.
He's a great speaker and very engaging. Super comfortable in front of the camera.
That clearly is one of his hearts. Speaking in front of the camera and being so great at it
Really love the octopus analogy! I’ve had to learn so many different things over 10 years to become a full-time creator from all kinds of camera settings, lighting techniques, animating, etc. It’s hard to imagine letting go of an octopus arm and allowing someone else to control a part of my channel, but I feel like that’s going to be inevitable if I want to grow to the next level. Very blessed to be on this treadmill though!
For creators trying to make this a career: There’s 2 ways you can approach this. 1) Try something, fail, and get discouraged. Or 2) Try something, fail, and keep going until you figure it out. If you keep trying to figure it out, you will eventually, so keep learning and don’t give up! 🙏🏻
Ay
Ngl what u said really helps me lot to understand that sucess comes from failure, experience and improvements. I believe keep our mental and physical health check is one of the way for keep moving forward without any burnout and self doubts, thanks for ur words!
@@dumb_art156 Exactly! “Success comes from failure, experience, and improvements” is a really great way to word it 😄 Glad I could help! Now keep creating and reach your goals!!! 💪🏻
@@prettyboredvids I will thanks for replying didn't thought you would reply lol, really big fan of your work! Have great day
Hey Marques! As a new TH-camr, this video really resonates with me, and I can't help but think about how it relates to your journey as a seasoned content creator. It's so true that being a TH-camr might seem like a dream job, but it comes with its own set of challenges and complexities. Your content has always been top-notch, and I admire the way you handle your channel.
I think finding that balance between external goals like growth and fame, and the internal motivation of simply enjoying the creative process, is crucial for creators like you. This video reminds us all to be deliberate about our TH-cam careers, preserving what we truly love about creating content while delegating tasks that can lead to burnout.
As a new TH-camr, I appreciate these valuable insights and consider them as gems of wisdom. Thanks for sharing your journey with us, Marques! It's a valuable reminder for all creators, including those who look up to you. 🙌🎥💡
Love you Marques, thanks for taking the time to share your wisdom
I retired in 2020 after 36 years in IT, the last 21 in cybersecurity. I cannot tell you how many career burnouts I hit along the way. My only hope was that I would be able to hobble along until I could get my head back in the game. There were times when I was on top, there were more times when I was just struggling to not make a target of myself. I finally hit that point where my age and income really could not save me if I hit the next on-coming burnout, and when the company asked for "volunteers" for early retirement, my hand shot up.
It's that realization that - you just don't want to play any more. It's no longer interesting and there is nothing and no one in the field to spark your enthusiasm.
I retired in 2020. Best freaking decision of my life!
I think the problem is partially this idea that you just shouldn't retire. So many people "retire" and then just end up going part-time or doing consulting, which sort of defeats the point depending on how hard you go
I commented under a video that what happens when youtubers get burnout and their income depends on their youtube channel and people seemed to missed the point. Having a career and not a job allows you to switch jobs when you're bored and eventually work towards that retirement. Young youtubers are hot not and really blew up in 2020 and I find that they repeat the same shit over and over...yea, the audiences changes but that will become boring for the content creator who realizes that I've said this a million times before what can I do next.
I think I can speak for a lot of people when I say, it's quite refreshing to see Marques still being genuine and 'real' after getting so big. So many creators, once they've 'made it', completely start to change for the worse.
💯
💯
I can't say the same
For example, UK youtubers Danny Aarons and Angry Ginge. Before they blew up they were funny and normal but now they are everywhere and act like a pair of twats
I have a travel/ theme park channel, and I realized having fun with your videos and enjoying the process creates constant creativity. Love what you do 🥃
Thanks for the insight. I'm going to share this with all of my young colleagues in media who have quit or are dreaming about quitting their traditional media jobs to go independent.
An accurate, out of control, and somewhat disturbing analogy.
😏😏😏😊
A different kind of energy as we're used to from you. But oh so powerful if harnessed well. 😉
I cut off my arms. Where's my gold play button?! (I typed this with my tongue please help)
Hey there, I wonder if you made more house video's, be on your channel in a sec.
“If you ever get to live the dream, be very deliberate about it." - Powerful words, even as a side thought. Good on you, Marques!
wow you can say things so beautifully and clearly. This confirms for me that I am doing well. I haven't been doing it for very long but I really enjoy doing it. I have seen many videos in which they give certain advice on how to best have a TH-cam channel, but it makes me so unhappy. I just follow my own path in this. I also learn a lot about myself. I also had to get used to seeing myself on video, but that is quite a process😂
Thank you for this video!
I’d argue that a regular career can go along the same path as a creator career.
I work as an analyst, I’m a senior analyst with a couple of direct reports. I’m able to still do the part I enjoy (analysis).
My boss is like me and likes the analysis, but due to other parts of his job namely facing off to stakeholders and managing the team. He has to let us get on with the analysis now.
What you’re describing is the same in that as your grow, you need to learn when to let go and let other people be the ‘worker bees’.
You hit the nail on the head with this one! The biggest lesson I’ve had to learn is that you CANNOT do everything on your own… the creation of content stays in the center of everything, and all the other pieces get outsourced!
Being a jack of all trades is the fastest way to burnout!
It sounds good but it’s DANGEROUS ‼️
my man i didn't know you watched his videos
Nah, independency goes a long way 💯
It depends on what you want to achieve. Doing my channel I enjoy all of it, editing, filming etc… I guess I would outsource editing at some point.
But then what I do, probably read the books I’ve been wanting to read for years now. 😅
Couldn’t agree more! The octopus analogy is perfect and sums up my life.
I contemplated hiring someone to help but couldn’t get round to it. I love the process too much. If my channel does scale more in the future I’ll recess.
I do feel it though, between TH-cam / Instagram / running a full time photography / creative business / normal life etc. it’s tiring. It’s non stop.
😊😏
Two points come to mind. First, my mother taught me something important when I was really young. Decide whether you are a leader or a worker. Leaders will shoulder the burden of responsibility and all the rewards that come with risk and control. Workers will maintain routine, creative, reliable employment. Decide which is at your core and follow that path. Second point. Your description of chasing opportunity that leads to overhead and oversight, drawing you away from creativity is shared by many others. Generally speaking we learn to Walk then Run then Fly... and it's all so natural for this to happen. I suspect youtubers aren't aware of the formula until the reality of a living wage is dangled just within reach and then... the chase is on.
Appreciated this so much 🙏🏼 Thanks for sharing your thoughts, experience, and wisdom!
😩😩😩😋😋😋😋😏😏😏😏😏😲😲😲😲😲
As a senior software engineer, whose main job is engineering and developping software, I can tell you that a lot of jobs actually scale that way: Nowadays I find it harder and harder to code since I also have to manage and mentor my juniors, meet with clients, handle process stuff, plan project stuff with the pm, plan company tech stuff with the cto and architects, and a lot of other stuffs than my actual core job. Yes, those are sorta fulltime jobs, at a lower level, but altogether they are what makes a senior software engineer, because that's what's needed for the whole machine to function. Some might have different experiences, or more focus on the coding part, due to a different repartition of responsabilities, as I'm sure that there are "princess" youtubers that don't want to manage anything else and recruit someone for that, but that's it basically. What you experienced is just promoting yourself from junior youtuber to senior, hell, even boss youtuber I would say. But yeah, clearly that's not for everyone. Sometimes I wonder if I would be happier as a freelance expert developper and just sell myself to code fulltime and stop bothering with longterm company or project stuff too, that or if I even still love coding. That's what some call a burnout.
Yeah, what this dude (I don't watch his channel), just described in this video is just the reality of being a business-owner in any business. All these TH-camrs that love to call themselves "Creators" seem to be forgetting that their channels are their brands, and their brand is a business, and they are the business owner. If you love baking and you start a bakery that winds up being successful, you'll go through this same experience, if you love tinkering with cars and you start an auto-body shop that is successful you'll go through this same experience. Everything said in this video is just common sense that you'll hear about if you talk to anyone who runs a business. If you love to do something and turn it into your job, eventually you won't have much time left to do the thing you love anymore unless you let other people take the reins.
I clicked on the video hoping to hear some unique insider perspective on YouTubing as a job and some opinion maybe on the changing landscape and why it's different than things originally were, and how that's leading to these people quitting, but I just got a generic explanation of the reality of running any business as it scales. Like most things in life, the truth is disappointingly banal.
You described how I feel exactly. Also a senior dev.
With great power comes great responsibility, and that responsibility can be overwhelming.
Fully agree and had the same thoughts. Nearly any other job scales the exact same way at some point if you get more responsibility.
Creators are business owners...and the same rules apply to them as to any other business owner.
Came to say this. Software engineering definitely, also in the consulting realm - potentially any job in any realm - you can choose to continue to do the fun 'thing' that the job originally is, or you can start to lead or manage teams, at that point you trade the fun 'thing' for all the back office elements (expenses, leave management, HR issues, hiring, firing, performance reviews etc.). There seem to be 2 different job types - 1) where growing is a choice (eg. SE or sales person) - you can make just as much money being an expert in those areas as a manager might; 2) where you are stuck on a pay grade UNLESS you take that growth into leadership (eg. teachers).
Also as a software engineer, I came here to say exactly this.
Perfectly well said 🙌 Something we're grappling with here at Viva La Dirt League. Burnout is a real thing and we're actively looking to keep this sustainable for ourselves!
uwu
You guys rock!
You guys are just legend!
You guys are awesome! Slow if you must but don't quit!
I would watch “bored” series billion times in loop.. you guys are legends
I thank you and think that you accurately defined the transformation required in "any" job that one undertakes in their life journey. The prospect of doing everything well is a myth and needs to be understood at the fundamental base of the journey/job. The quote, "Do what you love," means exactly that. It's not complicated yet we make it so. Your perspective in insights are invaluable and again, I thank you as a beginning YT content creator~
That “scale up” problem is real in a lot of careers. I worked in corporate doing work I enjoyed and as I moved up it was all management and less of what I actually liked. Eventually I quit, started freelancing, and decided to forgo growth for joy.
"A dream job is still a job" is the realest thing to take away here. It's easy to look at TH-camrs who are burnt out or moving on and whinge about it because they're doing what they love for a living. But think about any passion - sports, writing, music - there's definitely a threshold that you can cross which takes the love out of the passion and I have a lot of respect for everyone who is brave enough to step away from TH-cam for whatever reason.
It also helps and makes it easier to "step away" when you're a multimillionare in your early 20s
it's also easy for us to say this in our position, but if we were having brands looming over us with insane sums of money it's difficult to say whether we would be mature enough to step back too lol
@@IcyBlaze616 but the flipside of that is that there's millions more to be made by not 'stepping away' so its still a difficult decision
@@IcyBlaze616Duh, that's obvious. How the hell would you quit if you wouldn't be able to support yourself?
“they’re just finding their hearts… if you ever get to live the dream, be deliberate about it.”
beautifully put!
I really needed this video thanks for sharing it is important Stay creative and keep what actually made you start TH-cam in your heart ♥️
I found this video to be so helpful. Especially the treadmill analogy. Marques, my dad was one of your biggest fans. He passed away last year and every time I see one of your videos I think of him. He would often send me your videos to encourage me with my own channel. He was 76 when he passed. I just wanted you to know that. ♥ ~ Jennifer
This is perfect. Thanks for making this, man. To see someone to discuss what we do so eloquently and objectively is as rare as it is great.
I feel like some just realize they have made money and want more free time . Let’s be honest yall make bank . That guy doing audits says he makes 1.2 M a year from TH-cam . He has two employees that he pays 80+k .
Yall get use to that and want more time . In sure you’ll take it for granted and don’t even realize it. And I think that’s natural. No hate in that.
Honestly ❤
@huecloud😊😊😊😊😊😮😮😊
Great name "Garrett," I have a particular affinity for it... as it's mine too! L8r "also" Garrett! 😅
But just like every single other video on the subject, all this is is a list of reasons why someone would retire at all, not why everyone is retiring at the same time. It's not an intentional strawman, but it does ignore the main part of the question: Why are youtubers retiring NOW?
Finding your heart is not only for youtube creators. Thank you Marques. This is a one of the most insightful video's.
I agree. I love the way Marques explains things and am grateful for these valuable insights.
Great advice! ("Keep the creativity part at the core of what you're doing"). Thanks.
I teach digital marketing at a college and a few students have started Instagram channels, which is great. Two students started a TH-cam channel reviewing hip hop albums and they're doing great.
My advice would be to just EXPRESS YOURSELF. Not necessarily on TH-cam, but on ANY channel you resonate with, whether it's Facebook (like I do, being an obsessive writer lol) or Linkedin or Tik Tok (wait, Tik Tok is very toxic, just my opinion) or X.
From a career or economics standpoint, people have to realize that social platforms give them ENORMOUS power. Eventually, they'll find a way to monetize their content, but it's important to START CREATING CONTENT (blogs, videos, podcasts, whatever).
In fact, the timing is right since AI is probably going to eliminate most, if not all, non-creative jobs (including knowledge work jobs requiring a university degree).
I have a 15-year-old nephew who started composing music and he's on Spotify!
Kids, the world is yours! Go for it!
The octopus example just hit me hard. I think I was the octopus a couple of months ago for 5+ years; I was doing everything: taking way more than I could handle, getting a bonus --> buying real estate, more money in Airbnb than the rental, making it Airbnb, doing consulting work after 9-5, I love to write a blog (blogging before 8 AM or after 6 PM), if the blog is paying good, create another niche based, that niche is doing great, make another sub-niche, there is no F... end.
I had to cut my arms, but as Mkbhd said, not all the arms would disable me permanently; I cut the arms in which I was weak or trying to be the best and hired some people who were doing a way better job than me.
Now, I am focusing on three things I genuinely enjoy. Although your analogies are a little strange, they make more sense when you connect the dots. Thanks, brother!
I actually think your description of how the TH-camr job scales matches a lot of real world job scaling, especially office-type jobs. For example, as a programmer you start coding all day every day. You’re being creative and just solving problems and it’s awesome. When presented with opportunities to take on more responsibility and advance in your track you end up narrowing your focus a bit and you do less of the original job. That can continue on as you become a technical lead, a manager, and ultimately either a “high level thinker” or maybe even executive. No matter how you advance in that field it always requires doing less of the original thing that you loved.
Yes, well put my friend. What Marques described there is just a job. We’re all octopi 🐙