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- [00:00]
A
Hey, if you want to start or grow a YouTube channel in 2026, we've got a brand new resource you need to know about. Starting YouTube can feel overwhelming. What camera to use, what niche to pick, what to post first, and most people quit before they even get started. That's why we created the YouTube Creator Toolkit. It's your quick start system to go from confused to confident, fast. And for a limited time, you can save big. During our holiday sale@thinkmedia sale.com you'll start with Niche Finder to get total clarity on what kind of channel you should build. Then you'll use the AI powered video topic generator so you never run out of video ideas. Plug those into Think Media's AI title system tool to craft titles that get clicks and finish with thumbnail templates and trainings so your content actually stands out. And we've even included a ticket to to our Think Media strategy briefing that's happening right at the start of January to help you lock in your entire growth plan for 2026. It's incredible. And the crazy part is, during our limited holiday sale, you can get the YouTube Creator Toolkit for less than the price of a trip to Chipotle. Just go to thinkmediasale.com to take advantage of this special offer before it expires. Okay, let's jump into the podcast.
- [01:23]
B
Algorithms change, platforms evolve and trends just come and go. If your entire YouTube strategy is built on one income stream, one platform, you are vulnerable this year.
- [01:33]
A
If you depend on one income stream, you're one algorithm change away from disaster. You don't need the biggest audience possible. You need the right audience possible for you. And if your views are down, your income can still be up. And so the real measure is how well you turn these views into trust leads, revenue, income. In this season, depth beats with and a smaller loyal audience can drive more business growth than viral spikes ever could.
- [01:59]
B
We're gonna unpack five big shifts that'll help you maximize views, subscribers and income right now, but go about it in a way that keeps you around and in the YouTube game for the long haul. Sean, this first shift is views are down, but income can still be up. How is that possible?
- [02:17]
A
Yeah, I want to unpack that. Views are down, but income can still be up. It's still possible to go full time. It's still possible to earn an extra 5k, 10k, 15k a month on YouTube. And I want to talk about some of those ways, but I also want to remain remind our community that this is actually part three In a three part series. In episode one we were kind of talking about the new rules and changes of YouTube. In episode two we were talking about the importance of brand and for standing out in a crowded marketplace. And, and so we'll link in the show notes, the full playlist and the other episodes. So definitely watch those after or listen to those after this episode. But we have five more shifts rounding out our series and its views are down, but income can still be up. And here's the truth. Success on YouTube isn't just about racking up views anymore. But I think that also is something that everybody is feeling. I was just at this creator event and it was interesting. These are very established creators still doing well. So these are some of the people who've gone for years doing brand deals. YouTube AdSense, uh, they're okay, but like the trend across 100% of them, they're like all of our views are down. So this doesn't mean this is happening to every channel, but this is just such a common message that we're hearing. I was recently on a podcast with a high level real estate agent entrepreneur doing a lot of different businesses and he was like, yeah man, I mean I just. A couple years ago my views were like 10 times higher than they are now. And that macro shift. I think people need to realize the pandemic views boom is over. You know, during the lockdown there was a lot more attention on YouTube and AI hadn't really rolled out in a major way. Shorts were still just getting started. I think viewership is decentralized. Like it's just being spread across so many different things. And so my reframe for that individual when I was on his podcast was like, you know, you were used to, let's just give some round numbers. You were used to getting like 100,000 views a video. And when it drops to 10,000 views a video, it's such like a crash of even your brain neurochemicals. Like your dopamine is gone, your vasopressin is destroyed, your oxytocin is like now negative. I don't think that was the wrong use of those brain chemicals, but the right use. But like, yeah, it's like an emotional rollercoaster. But I was like, bro, you're still getting like 10,000 views a video now. I know people listening, they might be like, it's hard to get views. I'm getting 55 views, 122. The thing that you need to shift is like if you're getting 122 views a video. You know, my background's in the local church and kind of Christianity. I was in ministry for years. And the average church size In America is 80 people. And you think about the influence over a community like that, the positive influence. You're pastoring 80 people, you're communicating with 80 people. And actually that local church, while maybe they're not balling, they're paying the bills there, it's a different revenue model, but it's like they're raising money through a congregation and that's how they cover the lighting and the music and the building. And they're like they're stewarding that community of 80 people. I think that's one of the mindsets is like you don't need the biggest audience possible, you need the right audience possible for you. And if your views are down, your income can still be up. And so the real measure is how well you turn these views into trust, leads, revenue. And so in this season, depth beats with and a smaller loyal audience can drive more business growth than viral spikes ever could. And so today competition is fiercer and I think it's about adapting, it's about pivoting. And there's two frameworks people need to know. One is Seth Godin's long tail. He talks about the long tail in any kind of business arena. And it's the fact that like previously go back 50 years, everybody watched the same 10 TV shows, they watched the same 10 TV channels. People watched like ABC, NBC, Fox, so we watched the same sitcoms on all of those channels and there was less media, less channels and everyone was rallied with big audiences around just a handful of things. In a 2026 YouTube world, the long tail is that you can have an at home TV show by an individual creator that sets up a studio and, and that builds something around such a hyper niche topic that you can find a small audience that could create if you will, a sustainable YouTube business. So instead of everybody only watching Seinfeld or Friends or the Office or everybody watching Regis and Kelly, you could have a talk show that just discussion discusses you know, niche synth wave tape drone music for just like some hyper specific and you know, people that are really into ambient classical that's made with rocks clicking on tables and, and using YouTube Connect with the other a thousand people and maybe a 10,000 subscriber base, a thousand super fans. That's the second framework would be like Kevin Kelly's A thousand true fans. So sustainable growth comes from depth of relationship, not sheer volume. So I think a big question people could ask is really, Actually, what business am I going to be in? Because if you're just chasing Monet, then a thousand true fans is not enough. If you had a thousand true Fans watch every YouTube video you make and you're trying to get YouTube to pay you ads on your videos for that, at whatever level, it's still not going to be enough. So you got to ask, you know, what's the bigger business you're building? Views can be down, but income can still be up. How are you turning that into leads? What are your products, services or offers? And I think that could be frustrating because a lot of people just want, I just want to make videos and get paid. I think you have to flip your mindset to being an entrepreneur and decide that you're going to build a real business of some kind. And I think it's somewhat myopic to say the only model is, you know, what everyone thinks in the influencer economy. I need to make a course. So good idea because it's digital and able for the individual to do. But I think there's so much creativity. You could white label products, create your own, you know, different product lines. We've seen a lot of creators diversify. I want to say Vanessa Lau launched like a Boba tea brand.
- [08:27]
B
No way.
- [08:28]
A
Yeah, some kind of a tea brand, you know, and she's bigger, she's more established. But like these types of things are at creators fingertips. Like maybe you get really into not just merch, not slapping your logo on a teespring T shirt, but maybe being thoughtful about creating something unique for a hyper specific audience. So views are down, but income can still be up. It's a mindset shift and I think that's one of the biggest things here. With YouTube views crashing, this is what you should do in 2026.
- [08:57]
B
That's huge. And I think that that' that is the key is I think reframing your view of views, right? So like if it is all about views, of course, I mean it's gonna suck right now. Like, you know, you go from 100,000 to 10,000. I'm also like, though I love that call of okay, it's 10,000, what am I gonna do with them? And I'm thinking, you know, your background was the church. 80 people in a church. So my background is a musician. And I'm just thinking I would have been stoked if there was 120 people at like a gig, you know what I'm saying? Like the biggest fear is you walk out on the stage and there's like Two people or whatever, you know, and even still two people. Cool. But just the idea, if we could reframe, man, if you're getting 100 views on your videos, you're starting right now. I just think like, man, everything's figureoutable and you can absolutely treat those hundred views, those fifty views, with as much depth as you possibly can. I think that that's a total reframe. No matter the view count. What am I going to do with them and how am I going to try to go deeper with them?
- [09:51]
A
I can't fix a bad strategy. If you're not clear on your channel topic or have a systematic growth plan in place, then AI will just help you create faster in the wrong direction. That's why we built the YouTube Creator Toolkit to give you the strategy first and the fast tracked AI tools second. You'll unlock your profitable niche, uncover video ideas that actually get views, and use AI powered tools to move way faster. With this toolkit, you'll get the confidence that every video is intentionally crafted with views and monetization in mind. And right now, for a limited time during our holiday sale, you could get the YouTube Creator Toolkit for less than a trip to Chipotle. Chipotle. This is the formula AI plus strategy. That's how creators win in 2026. And the YouTube Creator Toolkit is going to help you lock it all in. Just go to thinkmediasale.com to grab this offer.
- [10:48]
B
And this actually kind of ties into the next shift here. The second shift is that scattered effort no longer scales. Only systems do. So break that down.
- [10:58]
A
Yeah, so I think that in a 2026 world, 2027, hustle burns you out and systems create sustainable compound growth. And so in the famous book Atomic Habits, James Clear puts it this way. You don't rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems. Now, what's a system? That's your routine, that's your habits, that, that's how you get your workflow done. But it's also what makes things sustainable. So if we go really meta here, meaning talking about exactly what we're doing at this moment, we're actually batch producing podcast episodes. We've got a whole framework that we teach inside of, like our coaching and whatnot, in terms of how we figure out titles, how we plan hooks, how we even plan the content, how we structure everything that actually allows us to not just like sit down and randomly film a podcast, but there's a whole system to it. And then even we were talking on the drive to the hotel last night, because you flew into Vegas and I flew into Vegas to shoot at our studio, you were like, what's your recovery process? It's actually a system. Like, if we're going to shoot five crazy levels of episodes where our brain is going to melt, like, we're doing it because we have a system even for how do we create consistent content? How do we keep pumping it out? How do we do it so we don't burn out? How do we do it in a sustainable way? How do we keep the quality as high as possible so that we can put out an A1 product for the podcast listeners? And systems create sustainable compound growth. And so random uploads can lead to breakout videos. But today, instead of treating YouTube like a slot machine, you want to start using it with a system. You know, of how am I? I think for sometimes too, we have big ambitions as creators that were listening to this. Like, maybe, you know, you know, I could schedule some time off and maybe, you know, go vlog in the mountains and man, if I could get a helicopter, it could fly me to this certain place. How could I get money for a helicopter? And then, you know, bring my drones with me and, and like, that's all cool and like, more power to the creativity. Like, here's an interesting example. So I was talking to a car creator recently who said, number one, he said he's a successful real estate guy. So he started buying, he bought a Lamborghini. And he's like, my Lamborghini content gets no views, but I also have a Dodge Challenger. He goes, my Dodge Challenger content blows up. And I was like, it kind of makes sense. More people have a Dodge Challenger, less people can relate to the Lamborghini. But he was also like, okay, but here's what's interesting is when I make these really dynamic, high production videos about the car and modding them and whatnot, it takes a ton of effort and these videos resonate well. But what I realized is I started spending all this money to buy these parts and to do these mods. And he goes, I just pivoted to news. And I realized I could just sit at home, talk about car industry news or consumer advocacy or talk about new. And he goes, I don't have to buy anything. I started reacting to articles, I started reacting to videos that were in the car industry, other trailers, and I didn't have to purchase a Lamborghini or a new Dodge Challenger to modify every single day to like, so, so even your system to your content strategy to Say, okay, what is the format and the repeatable format and process? And so that I'm not just hoping that I invest in this next video. Time, energy and shoot. I invested so much editing time, energy, resources, money, got the stuff, whatever. And I only got 120 views. You can't. Like, you might, maybe not. You can't afford that.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Whereas if you do a news video in your industry that people love just as much or more, even if you only got 120 views, you're like, well, what were the stakes? You know, I kind of turned it on, sat in my studio, reacted to the thing. Who cares that that field video failed? I can make 10 of those. And then one of them, boom, I hit a struck a nerve. 77,000 views and things are growing. This guy's about to get his silver play button. And so consistency and scale comes from systems, not scattershot effort. And I think you can apply that directly to YouTube. But what I'm seeing is too many creators and business owners are just overwhelmed with all the different AI tools, their work routines, how much information they're trying to consume, how to stay current, how to stay up on things. You, in a way, you need to reorder your whole life and your, your business plan and your routines for a 20, 26 world because people are getting stuck in overwhelm and information overwhelm and their to do lists are too long. And really turn your entire business model bigger than YouTube into a systematic approach. It's a reinvention time. It's time to level up, rein different, adapt, pivot, and develop a new skill set for a new season.
- [15:32]
B
100%. I think something I was, you know, thinking about just as a coach and like working with a lot of people is it's interesting to work with people that I would call coachable and then people that aren't coachable. And a key differentiator. There is someone who is coachable, seems to be willing to pivot, seems to be willing to try new things. Someone who's uncoachable, even if they're a veteran creator, got a silver play button. I've just seen too many times they're so stuck in what they've been doing, you know, and it's hard for them to think about changing things. It's hard for them to think about, oh man, I like, why can't I just keep doing the same thing? It's easier to blame other people or other new channels that are out, even if it's AI or something that's like pulling My views. And so I love that, that call to action of it's time to, like, try new things, like, just break out of your normal. And it could be a whole, whole bunch of different areas, but especially when it comes to content creation, like, this is the year to pivot. This is the year to try something. And hey, if you're at the very beginning, you know, like, cool, like, just try something. You know, give yourself a reason to pivot from. You know, just get moving, start. Start recording videos. But I think a lot of people are gonna need to rethink their entire strategy when it comes to how they show up on the platform.
- [16:38]
A
Yeah, I wanna lean into that too, because, you know, in kindness, I wanna call out over 50% of people listening to this podcast. You're not coachable. I think from what I've seen, it's like, most people are not coachable. And that's why you're gonna lose, because what you do. And again, listen, I mean, these are people who also hire us. There's people who come to us, but then what they do is they come to us. We're like, we can help you. We will help you get views, make this sustainable. We'll fix what's broken in your YouTube strategy and even your bigger online business. But not if you're not coachable. Because you come and you're like, I'm still in love with yesterday. Yeah, I'm in love with the old patterns. And what I want you to do is make my old content format and my old level of thinking work. That's right. And it's like, you can't. There's a biblical word that says, you can't put new wine into old wineskins. And it's this idea in the culture that, like, if you were to put this new wine into old wine, it would actually break these leather things that would get hardened. Your paradigm will break. If you're trying to take the new thing and make it work in the old paradigm, you actually need this fresh wineskin. Totally. Actually terrible analogy right now. What is sean talking about? YouTube is a wineskin. Yeah. But it's like the bigger picture is like, yeah, you need a new container, and you need a whole brand new container. Like, actually set aside the old mindsets, the old frameworks, be willing to reinvent, to really, actually steward these new changes. Because there's tons of tactics and ways forward, but you have to stay humble, stay teachable. And so I actually do want to invite people. We do an event in Vegas. It's called our Think Media Mastermind. And@thinkmediamastermind.com you can apply. If you're not coachable, don't apply because we can't help you. And you know we, and it wouldn't be worth your time if you're like, hey, can you just come and tell me like how what I'm doing right now will work. But if you actually are like, yeah, I need fresh insights, fresh wisdom, I want to connect with other people. Iron sharpens iron. You're going to leave with the new model, you're going to leave with the whole new approach. You're going to leave this event. It's a two day event, happens in Vegas, super small and intimate. You and I are there teaching, our coaches are there. And it's also cool too because you get like our production staff and our paid ads guy and we get into these small groups and it is a hands on experience with our team to install systems, workflows, ideation, production, packaging, publishing into your business, into what you're doing. And so here's the cool thing, if you go to thinkmediamastermind.com all you do is apply. And we only work with people where it is a good fit. We'll jump on the phone with you and so that way you can know it's a win win. And if you're like, if you already got it figured out, well, you definitely shouldn't come. But if you're like, you know, even if you're crushing it, but you're like, I understand honestly though that like just getting out of my environment, getting around other people and being willing to rethink and restrategize and retool and really embrace the new approach to crush 2026. Because if views are down, income can still be up. And we'll give you that playbook and that plan and then scattered effort no longer scales. But we're really refine things down into exactly what we're doing. What's the strategy, we're gonna work, what's the system and then we're gonna run that playbook, pivoting along the way and absolutely crush it while your competitors fade away. So again, that's not for everybody. But if you want to apply to our two day think media YouTube mastermind, that happens in Vegas four times a year. So even if you can't go to the February one, there's the one that's in the second quarter and so we'll put links about that in the show notes 100%.
- [20:13]
B
And I think it's like, it's one of my Favorite things that we do. And I don't know how many events are out there that are like this in the term, in the sense of how hands on we are, because we kind of cap it right. So that there's an intimate group that's here so all the coaches can be hands on with everybody. You're hands on with people. And, and one of my favorite things was, you know, someone who was at this event, who's crushing it on YouTube, by the way, came up and was like, hey, do you mind just like, can I show you my analytics on my back end? And you just have a look through it and just tell me like anything I'm missing. So we're just chilling there. He's got his phone pulled up, looking at his YouTube studio. We're just scrolling together. I'm pointing things out, he's pointing things out. I mean, I just don't know where you can even get that sort of interaction. That was like a five, seven minute moment.
- [20:49]
A
Yeah.
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B
But that instantly gave him an unlock of like, oh, okay, I need to make sure that I do more of this kind of content because I don't really see that represented in my analytics.
- [20:57]
A
Right now a hundred percent. And I think about like, we also like this last time we do these experiences. So we went to like this really cool new hotel, it's called Durango. This cool environment, everyone hanging out, you know, and it's also those conversations with you or with me or with our team or with somebody else. And you meet this, you meet somebody, there's a partner, there's an idea, there's somebody who gives you a different perspective. And then all of a sudden it's that unlock. Yeah, it's an environment. And I know with all this online type of stuff and digital things, very cool, you know, virtual events. But in person, I think is another big thing for 2026. Like getting out from behind your computer and getting into a different environment. So you think different, think bigger. Because here's our mindset, I think media, we have an a mindset that there's always new opportunities and new possibilities. There is never a dead end. There is always a way. There's always everything is figure out. I think that there's some people whose perspective, they have a fixed mindset and they see problems in every opportunity, but a growth mindset sees opportunities in every problem. And so, man, there's problems in 2020. What am I gonna do with competition? What am I gonna do with algorithm change? What am I gonna do with tariffs? What am I gonna do with the industry changing, I get it, serious problems. But the entrepreneurial mindset, the growth mindset is like, this stuff's figureoutable, man. What's the new way? What's the new approach? What's the reinvention? And a lot of that happens when you just get around others that can get you outside of your box and thinking different 100%.
- [22:29]
B
So if you're listening, watching, think that'd be a good fit, please go to thinkmediamastermind.com, fill out some information, make sure you be a good fit there. And hey, there's four of them. We're doing, you know, in 2026, you might as well get on the list so we can get a date that's good for you. Shift number three is that owning your audience is non negotiable.
- [22:47]
A
So owning your audience is non negotiable. What does that mean? That means you need an email list or you need an SMS list, a text message list, or you need a Discord group or a Facebook group. Some of those groups can be flawed because they're powerful. But even reach in a Facebook group, again, even reach the people who are in there, you can, but it's like there's, you're on a platform, so if something's more focused, the question is this, how can you get into direct contact with your core fans and your audience? And the universal answer that is typically build an email list. And so owning a direct line, that's your unfair advantage in a world where algorithms change and attention shifts. So also when views are down, the person who is relying only on the YouTube algorithm and the YouTube algorithm changed, they were like, oh, I can, I can reach my audience. I'm getting 25,000 views.
- [23:42]
B
And.
- [23:42]
A
And then all of a sudden it's 5,000. I can't reach the 20,000 people now. Now the YouTube approach to that is more rigor. And that's why I listen to some of these past episodes in the playlist is like, okay, better titles, better thumbnails, so that you get the distribution from YouTube. But the truth is, is like at some level you also want to be able to just send an email and talk to your community. So not enough creators have really embraced this mindset. And here's what I've seen some embrace it. And so they go, okay, I'm going to sign up for a CRM, which is, you know, like ConvertKit or Mailchimp or any of the, you know, different websites, it's convertkit.com now or whatever, they sign up for one. And that's like the worst thing though, I see they sign up for one, then I'm like, what have you done with it? They're like, nothing. I mean, I like, I have to.
- [24:32]
B
Log in, you know.
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A
Yeah. I have to log into the software. It's like level two is like they sign up for one, they're like, I'm going to start an email newsletter. I'm going to try to email the people that sign up once a week.
- [24:40]
B
Yeah.
- [24:41]
A
And so they, they build a landing page. They say that. And then I'm like, when's the last time you emailed? It's been a while. It's like two and a half months ago. Okay. But level three is like, yeah, no, I email every week. Is it good? What's the strategy? Yeah, no, I don't know. I mean, are you thinking about the subject lines, the open rates? Are you thinking about like, what, like how you're really building momentum? There's. Yeah, no, I mean, I barely ever emailing. So I think it's like this idea of owning your audience is non negotiable. Sure, people maybe start embracing it, but you go to like maybe level four of this and it's like, no, I am actually realizing that an email list is my primary asset. And so here's the stats. Email actually remains key. In 2026, marketers see a 36 to $42 in revenue for every $1 spent on email marketing. So think about this. Every $1 they spend on email marketing, they're getting an ROI of over 4,000%. They get 36 to $42. Now that means you're actually having something to sell. Or I mean, you could do sponsored posts. There's people who build newsletters and once you have an audience, they do brand deals, affiliates, joint venture partnerships. It's not even your own product, but eventually you might create your own product or service for every $1 spent. Well, what do you mean, Sean? What are you spending the money on? Well, email lists do cost money and the bigger they get, the more money they cost. So it's the fact that you're going to be paying one of these platforms, you know, 10 bucks a month and then 30 bucks a month. And I mean, there's been times, in fact, I think about, we have, we clean our list a lot. We've had millions of people on the list. It's probably, you know, 550,000 right now. We really are. List cleaning is a whole thing and all this other stuff. But I remember I was talking to some business mentors of mine. Who are legends. And they're like, yeah, we spend 500 grand a year on email because our list was so big.
- [26:36]
B
Yeah.
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A
And actually one of the things they did was they, this was a huge unlock. They were paying month to month and they just called the company and was like, hey, do we need to be paying this much? And it was like, yeah, no, if you pay annually and we just renegotiate this, it went down to like 280. There's a little nugget in the middle of the podcast of, like, reorganizing your SaaS management. This is an advanced episode. Yeah. Like, like, so sometimes, you know, thinking about cost and bringing cost down as you scale to higher levels. One phone call saved him like over a quarter million dollars. Like, that's interesting. And so all that to say is email remains key and, you know, we gotta keep going with the shifts. But that is, you know, what are you doing here? Like, what is your plan for even what the list is, what you're communicating to the list, who are your people? What is the strategy? Reverse engineering all of that so that you ultimately can share offers directly and nurture trust. And you can also react instantly to platform changes. You know, when something happens, you're just not that stressed. Because email marketing isn't just effective, it's irreplaceable 100%.
- [27:45]
B
You've, I mean, you know, you've built a wall, essentially. You've insulated yourself. Like, views could be down, algorithm could be doing whatever. But you have your audiences over here, you know, or most of them are over here. So there's a lot of peace that comes from that. I just want to call listeners to an episode. I was able to hang out with one of our students, Jackie Bernardi. That episode's titled this mom got monetized in 28 days. She's awesome. She's a firecracker. You'll just enjoy listening to that. But she has a wicked email strategy in place that she uses. So it's kind of wild. Her. Her email strategy actually refuels her views. So for her views aren't down because it's like, you know, because of her email strategy, you can go watch that episode.
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A
She.
- [28:21]
B
She breaks it all down, but she posts a video, times it, syncs it up with her email. She does a specific kind of email to get a high open rate. That open rate then fuels the video views in the first 24 hours boost. It's crazy. So she's just on loop. She's like fueling her own view count. So to Speak, it's pretty wild. So that's definitely worth a watch or listen. But shift number four is that one income stream is a recipe for collapse.
- [28:47]
A
Okay, so fragile creators depend on one income stream, and antifragile creators diversify. So the lesson is Even the biggest YouTubers in the world can lose tens of millions of dollars on content, but survive because their business isn't built on ads alone. Now this is of course the biggest creator, but consider this. So Mr. Beast, in 2024, his media division lost over $100 million on production. Can you imagine being at a level where you could lose a hundred negative? Your P and L is a hundred million negative from what it costs for you to invest in videos and your media company, essentially. But here's the fascinating thing. He didn't collapse because nearly half of his revenue comes from chocolate bars, Mr. Beast Burger Toys and other ventures which were profitable. So it made a big headline like, oh my gosh, Mr. Beast lost $100 million. But no, he didn't. He realized that media was really the lost leader. Media was the influence. Why do people buy the chocolate bars or the burgers or the toys is because of the influence that he's purchased. Now, if possible, you would want your media division, your YouTube channel itself to be profitable. But the key is that if he only had one revenue stream, you know, again, his famous video, the Squid games video, broke like every record. And there's lots of famous videos. But like, even still, I want to say it was like $2 million budget. But then it like, you know, they always accidentally ruin a Ferrari and have to like destroy another one or whatever, you know, something that it's like that it seems like it's like a level of irresponsible overhead. And again, it kind of. But at that scale, it's like the budget inflated. And like that video make money. Even though across languages and stuff, it got, you know, billions of views. And he's like, no, I still lost a ton of money on that video. You know, even though the video made millions, I still lost, you know, money. But he didn't really lose money because of the bigger game he was playing. Cause he wasn't depending on YouTube, one income stream or even two. YouTube ad revenue and brand deals was not enough. But what's the bigger game you're playing? And so, as YouTube itself has noted, creators aren't just making videos, they're building next generation media companies. Now let's bring this down because, you know, listeners are like, dude, what are you talking about? I'm not Gonna Aries. I'm not gonna launch a chocolate bar brand like I'm trying to, you know, get monetized in a thousand subscribers. Well, the reason, you know, our company's called Think Media is because we're gonna help you think different and think bigger and totally have a different perspective. And I really believe this. Like, everybody from day one can be thinking bigger.
- [31:31]
B
Yeah.
- [31:32]
A
And playing a bigger game. Even if you ultimately want to be a solopreneur, you don't necessarily have to build a big team. You don't have to necessarily imitate any other creator, but you got to be thinking different and you have to have a plan to eventually diversify your income streams. Now, here's what I would encourage individuals though. You know, if we follow the Mr. Beast example and you look at his first couple years on YouTube, it was none of this, none of what we're talking about. No team. He's making videos. And early on he was doing really weird viral things that were just him like saying Logan Paul for 15 hours straight. I think, I think like, not a lot of people want to do that, but it was so strange. And he's just sitting there and people probably just skipped around probably to get watch time for the whole thing. But, like it was a whole thing. And then early on he took the money he did have and would go out and give it away and then make a little bit more money and then give more money away. He growth hacked every step of the journey and then he reinvent vested the dollars he had to re to growth hack the next piece. So I think there's a lot of things, I think that for business owners listening to this, I think you should be more aggressive investing in YouTube in 2026. Like a little more aggressive with hiring maybe a producer, shooter, editor, A little more aggressive with investing in your education to master media. A little more aggressive with allocating some of your time to media because you have multiple income streams. So media, you might go, well, what if I lose money? You might, but you're not going to lose money. Macro, like what? You know, well, if I pay for the team and whatnot this year, the media division might be negative. We'll follow the example, but your business won't. And then for the individual creator, it's also just like, how can you growth hack every step of the way, earn a little bit of money, but like, maybe stay at your job longer than you thought you should because you're building systems and you're reinvesting the money that YouTube is making you. And the Few things you're doing because you're like, okay, now I'm gonna aim for an entirely different target. I'm gonna aim higher. And so yeah, if you just spend on, if you depend on one income stream, then you're one algorithm change away from disaster. But if you diversify, that's gonna be your insurance policy.
- [33:52]
B
I think about just a quick example for me in my journey just to bring this way down to like a beginner creator level. I remember when I was first trying to get my thousand subscribers, 4,000 hours of watch time just to get monetized. I had a goal of not letting that be the sole income stream. You know, I mean, I had gone through some think media stuff, so I was already thinking a little different. I'm like, okay, it's not just gonna be about YouTube. But I was like, okay, what if the YouTube revenue though could pay for my CRM? Like, could pay for a kajabi, could pay for whatever so that I could build. It's like that mindset of, okay, maybe that's just a highly tactical step of what if that, if that becomes your revenue goal for YouTube. It's just interesting. Like all of a sudden all this pressure goes away. It frees you from like just starting YouTube and trying to blow up overnight. It's like, okay, there's a step, there's a process I'm gonna follow.
- [34:35]
A
Yep.
- [34:35]
B
Because I just don't want to blow up today. I actually want to be here and be able to outlast other people. Right, good. So love that. Not just one income stream, but also not just one platform. Right.
- [34:43]
A
So we can all see it. The economy is shifting fast. Old strategies are just not working anymore. And if you aren't adapting right now, you are missing out on massive opportunity. That's why we created our Think Media Mastermind, which is a two day event that happens in Las Vegas. And you can check out details@thinkmediamastermind.com when you go to that website, you'll fill out an application. This isn't for everybody. We have a very strict criteria to make sure that the right people are in the room. And so if you're an entrepreneur or a creator that wants to scale their online business, then go to the website and apply soon because seating is extremely limited for this very intimate gathering. You can check it out at thinkmediamastermind.com.
- [35:25]
B
Shift number five is the multi platform is the new insurance policy. What do you mean by that?
- [35:31]
A
Yeah, and so multi platform is the new insurance policy. Relying on one platform is fractional, but I want to give two disclaimers for this shift and the shift before again. So speaking of the beginner creator, I don't know that you need to start focusing on multiple income streams from day one. So. So it's like, oh, so what you're saying, Sean, is I'm not even monetized on YouTube yet, but I should also start really going all in on Facebook because they pay creators too, and I should start like building out my course and writing a book. Like, you have to discern the season that you're in and so then this is the same thing here. Well, Sean, I thought you said if you're gonna only focus on one thing, you should go all on YouTube. Now you're saying multi platform is a new insurance policy. So does that mean I need to be super active on LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook, get onto Sora too, and start creating AI videos on that platform as well as YouTube. And then on YouTube I need to go live and do shorts and do a video podcast and do long form. No, like, not if you're just starting. But if you're modeling this is this episode is the higher level conversation.
- [36:39]
B
Yeah.
- [36:39]
A
And so if you're discerning the season that you're in, the question is when is the time to expand? So expanding smartly across multiple platforms is the new insurance policy. It widens reach, it protects against algorithm shocks, it future proofs your brand, it makes you more valuable. If you're doing brand deals. When you can pitch a brand and say, we can execute on some Instagram content as well, and we're going to execute on YouTube shorts and against the long form integration. And by the way, and we also can offer you some email exposure because you built a list even that is you can charge more for your brand deals. You're able to, if you're trying to hit targets and goals of you want to write a book, you want to get the book out to as many people as possible. Great. If you're crushing YouTube, that is enough. And I think most people should focus on one platform for a lot longer than they think and even one format on that platform for a lot longer than they think. I would argue that the time horizon we're talking about here is not even months, it's years. Yeah, this is a year's thought where it's 2026. And so you're thinking about the okay, multi platform. What am I doing? Year one, year two, year three, year four, and what milestones would I need to reach before I expand? But nevertheless, YouTube is still the best home base, but no longer the only place your audience lives. And shorts vertical can translate across TikTok reels. YouTube shorts. Podcasts are multi platform. That's why we so vehemently advocate for people to start video podcasts and why it's one of the things I focus on a lot in one on one coaching for people that are wanting to start a video podcast. Because I think there's lots of entertaining podcasts, but I'm talking to like high level entrepreneurs. You've got a product, you've got a service, you've got an offer. I think that video podcasting is my favorite format because you could do what we're doing right now, but you can also cut it up and then you are multi platform when you execute, right Spotify, Apple, the YouTube video that's uploaded, YouTube Music is where the audio version of YouTube is distributed and it becomes a sustainable format. But I'm not trying to underestimate how difficult it is. You know, that's why there's things we do to help people or they build their own teams. And that allows you to be multi platform. It just allows you to get your content and your message out across platform, have more leverage. And so the creators that are scaling in 2026 aren't just posting videos, they're building an ecosystem across platforms and they're using teams, systems, AI to do it sustainably. And I think we're in an interesting path here because some listening should really be thinking like they should build a team and that might be like local people, virtual assistants. But everybody listening should be thinking about how rapidly AI and AI agents are completely transforming the whole world where AI can be your team. Like so what is some technology, some software, some AI, my workflow and maybe some human involvement, but then AI in terms of distribution. And it might sound complex to distribute like your audio podcast across multiple platforms. It's not that complex. Usually not. Usually there are individual platforms that you basically fill everything out and then boom, they handle it. They handle it. So now you are multi platform and as you ascend to more advanced levels on that, sometimes maybe you're tweaking, sometimes your audio podcast titles different than a YouTube title nuances. So there's like get in the game level, there's a higher level there. And so there's multiple ways to do it. But I would encourage people, you know when and how are you going multi platform and if YouTube updates its algorithm or CPMs dip, you have no other channels to reach than you're vulnerable and competitors are everywhere. They're in people's feeds, inboxes and ears. So you want to surround your audience or you risk being forgotten. And the mistake which we mentioned is expanding too soon. So going multi platform without excellence just creates mediocre noise. So don't expand. You're like. So you take, you know, if I'm be kind of crude here, but if your video podcast is a pile of poop, it doesn't matter if you're like, let's see what kind of distribution we could do on this. Now let's export this pile of poop to multi platform. Well, you know, slow it down, homie. Like, let's bring it way back. You want to. When do you expand? When you can expand with excellence. Because going multi platform without excellence, excellence just creates mediocre noise.
- [41:26]
B
Thinking that, oh, if I just do the same thing, but if I do it elsewhere, maybe it's a different result. It's like, no, no, no, man. It's the same you, unfortunately, right? It's the same you that needs to grow, that needs to learn. It's the same stuff you're creating here, man. Well, hey, between this episode and a couple other episodes, we've covered 15 major shifts on the platform for the new year. And that's a lot. So if you're listening here, look, the truth is YouTube is both a skill set and it's a long game. And you don't have to master everything overnight. I'd encourage you check out the other couple episodes, get all 15 shifts and think about, okay, where do you need to hunker down on? Like, pick. Pick a few. Start there. What changes can you make now? Set up some Q1 goals for the new year and put yourself in the process of becoming better. And that's why we created the Think Media podcast, right? So we're going to be here by your side each and every week throughout this year to help you navigate these shifts. This is the Think Media Podcast. I'm Nathan S. Wine, and I can't wait to connect with you throughout this year.