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Hey, before we jump into the episode, quick heads up. If YouTube growth matters to you, you can't afford to keep guessing. The YouTube Growth Sprint is a free three day live online event that's happening January 27th through the 29th. It's designed to give you clarity, focus and real momentum fast. And we're also giving away cameras, microphones and creator software during the event. So you could register for free right now@ytsprint.com comm that is the letters yt, the word sprint.com all right, let's jump into today's episode. I want to start with this because this isn't my opinion. Time magazine just named YouTube's CEO Neil Mohan their CEO of the year. And in that interview, he confirmed something that I've been seeing on the ground for the last couple of years on YouTube, and that is this. The opportunity on YouTube is growing, but it's also concentrating and there's a lot of changes. And if creators don't adjust, then the gap gets brutal. And we're going to be unpacking a few insights from that article as well as breaking down the three big shifts that we need to do immediately on YouTube if you want to grow and get views. Because the rules that built most channels don't work anymore and a lot of creators don't want to hear that. But YouTube has been changing and YouTube is rewarding different signals. And so we're Talking about the three YouTube shifts that you must make now to win, but also about some of the changes on YouTube in 2026. And I'm not sure if you saw, but Neil Mohan is Times Time magazine's CEO of the year. And in the article there was a lot of insights that every business owner, creator, entrepreneur needs to know. And they said a couple of things. One, since two, since 2023, the social platform has increased its dominance of the attention economy against competition. And I think that's an important thing to know this year. In 2026, YouTube is the dominant platform. Now you might be like, that's already obvious, but it's true. YouTube is dominant, and not just more dominant than Instagram or Facebook or TikTok or Snapchat, but even more than Netflix, even more than these streaming platforms, YouTube is the number one platform watched in Americans living rooms on television sets. This article also confirmed that 2 billion people visit YouTube every single day. So to put that in perspective, that's 2 billion with a B daily. That's 1 out of every 4 humans on the planet that is showing up today. As you listen to this. And so you don't need to go viral to win. You just need to get in front of the right sliver of that massive audience. And so if you feel like you've been struggling to reach people on YouTube, it's because of these shifts. And again, we're going to be tactically going into these in this deep dive episode. Now, our advertisers also say that YouTube has generated more than $36 billion of advertising revenue. And that is a massive number. Right? In fact, YouTube has paid creators $100 billion in the last four years. That's a hundred billion dollars going into the pockets of creators. But this was one of the most fascinating things because Neil, in this Time magazine article said that AI will create an entirely new class of creators that today can't do it because they don't have the skills or they don't have the equipment. There's a lot of myths going around about AI, like YouTube doesn't like AI, and YouTube is shutting down AI channels. And those headlines are true because AI slop channels are getting shut down, or people that are mass producing channels, but they're exaggerated because the truth is YouTube is pro AI, and it's fascinating to hear from the CEO himself that the future looks bright, especially if you want to create a channel where you don't want to be on camera, faceless channels, even AI avatars. It's a very interesting landscape in 2026. And so the truth is there's a lot of good things happening. YouTube's healthy, it's growing. It's the most profitable platform to establish your brand on this year. And actually, the broader creator economy is expected to grow by 4x by 2032, reaching $848 billion worldwide. So the next couple years, there's massive opportunity, and it's still a great time to start, and it's still still a good time to get into the game. And there's a lot of good news, but there's also some challenges. Let's cover them. Number one, subscribers don't guarantee views anymore. So this has been also exaggerated. People say subscribers don't matter. That's not true. You should still get subscribers. You still want to build a targeted audience on YouTube. However, subscribers don't guarantee views anymore. And previously we've been obsessed with like, hey, hit that subscribe button. You know, click the subscribe button. But I have seen channels, right, that have 50,000 subscribers only getting 50 views. And I've seen small channels that are able to get 50,000 views if they've got 50 subscribers. Because every video has to win on its own merits. That's one of the big shifts. Every video has to win on its own merits. You're not entitled to get views even from the audience you build. I'm sorry, that's maybe brutal. But even the audience that's following you and that's click subscribe, they won't necessarily see your content. Each individual video has to earn its views in the algorithm based on the click through rate, based on the watch time. And so that's a big shift for a lot of established creators, but it's actually good news for brand new creators because you don't need subscribers to get views. You need to master content that can cut through the algorithm, which we're going to talk about in just a second with these three shifts. But as we go a little bit deeper on the threats, you know, across the platform, you may have saw this video. There was a video posted by Linus Tech Tips and he talked about how their views are down and he mentioned that their views were down as much as 75 on some of their videos. Now this is a massive creator that you could also say is doing all the things right, but acknowledged that even on their content where they felt entitled that their audience would, you know, be seeing their views because their audience click subscribe and they start talk. They were talking about, yes, some shifts like maybe ad blockers or the YouTube homepage or how cluttered the YouTube homepage is or if channel memberships and videos that you upload there. They had a lot of different theories, but it also came back to this big idea of we need to improve and be more strategic and how do we post content that cuts through the algorithm? We're talking about the five big threats before we get into the good news and the shifts you can use to get views now. And you got to do this immediately, like this month, you got to apply these changes. But here's threat number two. AI is creating winners and losers. AI is creating winners and losers. Most creators are just dabbling with AI. They're t, they're tossing basic prompts into chat GPT and they're calling it strategy. But AI is evolving fast and if you're not mastering AI, then you're going to get left behind. Now let me share with you three insane stats when it comes to AI. First, 40% boosted productivity. Where does that come from? So at a Harvard and MIT study revealed that top tier consultants were able to boost their output by 40% after they got proper prompt training. Are you using AI? How are you using AI? Are you using it smart? Do you really know how to prompt or are you just throwing out generic prompts and lacking the good tools? Consider that you versus your competitor, your competitor has gone all in on AI and you're kind of like, I'm not sure if I understand it. I'm not sure if I like it. I'm kind of worried about the ethical concerns. I'm thinking about all that. Here's the bottom line. The person embracing AI has a 40% advantage, but it goes a little bit deeper. Here's the second stat. 56% faster. GitHub pilots were able to finish coding tasks 56% faster. So the person sitting down to code can code at least 56% faster with AI than the person that's not using AI. Well, Sean, I'm not coding. I'm creating YouTube content. This applies to scripting. This applies to editing. This applies to you building out your strategic YouTube videos. So AI is separating winners and losers and 300 billion hours saved. So there was a study done that says AI has the potential to save at least 300 billion hours of global productivity. So that's editing time, scripting time, and thumbnail design, all this different stuff. So the point is, AI is separating winners and losers. What are you doing to level up your AI game in 2026? What are you doing to improve AI this year as it applies to your YouTube channel and learn how it applies to your YouTube channel? You know, we take this one a little bit deeper. Scientific American found that ChatGPT's verbal IQ score was 155, which, if ChatGPT was a human, that would place ChatGPT in the top 0.1% of humans. And that was two years ago when they did the study. So essentially, you have super intelligence at your fingertips. That is an assistant to help you grow on YouTube. But the problem is most creators really don't know how to use AI. Most creators really don't know how to prompt. They don't really know all the tools. They're not really sophisticated when it comes to projects and GPTs, and they're not really sophisticated with all the tools that are out there. Let me just challenge you. This is a massive shift. Like, if you don't start doing this now, you will get left behind, and those who master AI will dominate. But dabblers are going to disappear. And so threat number three, information overload is paralyzing creators. Information overload is paralyzing creators. 38% of employees say they receive an excessive volume of communications at Work messages, alerts, emails. They said it's dark, deafening. Now you probably get this. 30% of 40% of humans are receiving an excessive volume of communications. When you think about how much content is going out there or how many emails you're getting, or how many text messages you're getting, this is important because it's a threat. It's the environment that we are in this year. And then workers face the equivalent of 174 daily newspapers worth of information every day. So that's why these shifts that we're going to talk about in a minute are so important, because you have to be aware of the bombardment of information that others are getting. And you want to be aware, which you already are. You're like, sean, I get it. I'm stressed, bro. I get what's going on, of how much information you're being hit up with every single day. And in 2026, the ability to be disciplined in what you consume and how you learn and what you listen to and what you don't listen to is more critical than ever before. Because the truth is, content creators and business owners face the same struggle. We have information overload and we've got a lot to do. Thumbnails, scripts, SEO, editing, AI tools, it stacks up fast. So the reality check is that all that info isn't bringing clarity, it's bringing confusion and overwhelm. And if you want to win on YouTube this year, you got to be focused and not confused. You want to be clear and not confused. You want to have a step by step plan and not just procrastination and paralyzation because there's so much information coming at us. Right? We're just talking about the threats. We'll get to the good news in a second. Number four, competition and no noise are at an all time high. So YouTube announced. Drumroll please. That there is an average of 20 million videos uploaded daily to YouTube. 20 million videos are uploaded daily to YouTube. That's 13,000 videos every single minute. That's 130,000 videos since I started this live stream and video podcast. So to put that in perspective, by the time you've watched this, thousands of videos have been uploaded. And so standing out isn't just harder, it's really non negotiable. You've got to find a way to stand out. And being different isn't optional. It's survival. Threat number five. The wrong scoreboard will kill your business. The wrong scoreboard will kill your your business. Now, just to get us all on the same page, I know that when it comes to the Think Media podcast, we have a lot of business owners and entrepreneurs that listen. And then we have a lot of creators that want to monetize, go full time, turn this into a side hustle, a main hustle. But all of us, under the sound of my voice, have to think like business owners. So what does winning look like in your business? What's the scoreboard that you measure? Well, for most YouTube creators, it's like, how many views can I get and how much ad revenue can I get? But the wrong scoreboard will kill your business. For example, clients are a lot more valuable than clicks. Quality is a lot more valuable than crowds. Customers are a lot more valuable than clout. And faithful fans are a lot more valuable than fleeting fame. What do I mean? Are you just trying to get as many views as possible, or have you productized in some way? Do you have a product, a service? Do you have something deeper even? Is. Is it a deeper audience that's so focused that brands want to work with you? Faithful fans are a lot more valuable than fleeting fame. Cool. You got a hundred thousand views on a YouTube short. Even if you got 5 million views on a YouTube short, that doesn't signify depth. So depending on depth matters in 2026. And here's the big idea, though. Measuring your success. Wrong. Having the wrong scoreboard will kill your business if we're chasing the wrong things. So listen, I get it. You know, hearing all that, you might feel like, man, YouTube is a blood sport. And the truth is, it kind of is. It's competitive, it's exhausting, it's unpredictable. But there's a way forward. And when Gary Vaynerchuk spoke at our event called the YouTube, it's called the Grow with Video Summit, he actually said a quote that's been sticking with myself and our company. And he said the current landscape of social media requires more rigor. More rigor. Now, I haven't heard anybody else say that at the dinner table when my family's over. So what does rigor even mean? Right. Well, rigor means strict, thorough, and a disciplined approach. 2026, you want to win on YouTube, you need a strict, a thorough and a disciplined approach. Here's what rigor implies. It implies a high level of attention to detail, careful planning, consistent effort. In other words, achieving success on social media today requires more than just posting content. It demands a strategic and a meticulous approach. So how do we apply this? We're going to talk about three shifts to win on YouTube in 2026. Number one. Master video packaging or get ignored. Master video packaging or get ignored. The first big shift is you got to master video packaging or your content will get ignored. Here's the truth. You can stand out in the sea of sameness of 20 million uploads uploaded on any given day, because most of those uploads are garbage. They just are. And most of those uploads and most of those individuals are not subscribed to the Think Media podcast. They played themselves. They made the wrong move. You know, this is the place most of those individuals are not sitting down with rigor and a meticulous approach. So the good news for you is that you have the opportunity to do that and to learn these skills. Now, what exactly does packaging mean? Well, here's the packaging equation. It's topic plus title plus thumbnail plus hook equals the first 30 seconds of trust in your video and equals your video even getting clicked on in the first place. Topic + title +thumbnail +hook is what is going to get your video to stand out. Let me actually illustrate this. So Benazadi joined our program Video Ranking Academy years ago. His channel was just getting started. You know, he hadn't really taken off, hadn't gotten traction. And he's tracked with our companies, come to some of our events, and he's had a lot of success. When he first started, he was 80 pounds overweight, unhealthy, stuck. But he took control of his life and he got metabolically healthy. That's his niche. He helps people with, like, keto and sleep and health and all that kind of stuff. But after posting for a while, his channel plateaued. A lot of creators are there right now plateaued and had success kind of with the old rules of YouTube or had success doing what they used to do. But then views were going down, playing by the old playbook or just kind of rerunning the old plays they used to play. But views are going down. So he had to reinvent himself, kind of like he did physically. He had to do it strategically when it came to YouTube. And so he faced a choice. Do I stay stuck or do I pivot and do I master new skills? You gotta master video packaging or get ignored. Well, if you look at his channel now, he's on fire. It's like NBA Jam. You remember he's on fire. And then you could. You could break the backboard in the fourth quarter. That's a niche reference. So ultimately, there is Benazotti's channel. And if you look at some of these videos, if you're on Audio, I'll describe them. Five months ago he got 2 million views. And so he made a video called what happens if you only drink water for 72 hours. But it wasn't just the title. It's also some different design he did using AI with the text in the thumbnail body reset showing the result of water and then six pack abs. The desire of the audience, his facial expression. He had a video three months ago that got almost 4 million views. And check this out though, it's good packaging, good topic, a little polarized, a little bit triggering. The title of the video is 36 Dangerous Foods. RFK Jr just banned crazy thumbnail. And ultimately he had a massive what's called an outlier. Which means the video outperformed other videos on his channel by 33 times. The big idea is this. He doubled down on one of the most important modern YouTube skills, which is called packaging. But let's go deeper on his story because he posted a video. No editing, no script. But check out this title. Give me 12 minutes and I'll save you 17 years of trying to lose weight. A couple things going on for him there. The video idea itself. What am I going to sit down and talk about? Because the video that he filmed, he just filmed in his car. One take rift through it and he delivered good information. Based on his experience, he's developed these skills. He's been doing it for a few years. But no fancy editing. No editing at all. No script. Oh. But mastering packaging, which means even if you're going to rant in your car, I would encourage you to be thinking about that opening line and that opening thought. I'd be encourage you to be thinking about the title before you even press record. And let's talk about why this works because you could apply this to your next video. He said give me 12 minutes and I'll save you 17 years of trying to lose weight. This is a time versus outcome hook. We're all so busy right now, we want speed. Now. I don't think any of us thinks that we're going to lose a lot of weight in 12 minutes. But the point is he's actually describing him, teaching the information. The video is 12 minutes. So in 12 minutes I'm gonna save you 17 years of trying to lose weight. You get it? There's so much happening. It like makes your brain fire with all these emotions and all these powerful things because it's time versus outcome. We want speed. Ultra clear promise. What the video is about, curiosity and urgency and also a no fluff vibe. There's a big place for editing your content still, of course, and polishing your videos and whatever kind of content you're making. But in 2026, I want to challenge you. Shoot a video in your car, shoot a video on your phone. No edits. But sit down and package it well and plan it well. Because what we're learning is raw content works if it's packaged right. Authenticity plus strategy equals growth. Raw content. Raw, authentic content. Pouring out. Your emotions pouring out. What like you somebody listening to this. You're gonna film a video in the next 24 to 48 hours. It's gonna break out for you. It'll be an outlier. The authentic, raw emotion coming out and what you want to teach or what you want to say or how you want to entertain or the story you want to tell. But the strategy is you're not just necessarily riffing fully off the cuff. You're planning out. How's that kind of structured, though? I at least want to know what that title is, what that opening is. By the way, we have an event coming up where we're talking about AI tools to really help you do that. So you could just sit down, pour out your thoughts into these tools, and then it'll give you clarity on that packaging. But let's keep going. And this is the shift. Views aren't dead. They're just hidden behind the right packaging. Views are not dead on YouTube, but they're hidden behind the right packaging on YouTube. Now we're going to get into the second big shift of the three shifts we're talking about. But before we move on to the second shift, I want to pause for a moment, because where a lot of creators get stuck is wondering, okay, I understand packaging matters, and I understand the rules are different, and I know there's some new changes on YouTube, but, Sean, what do I focus on next? I think this is actually one of the most important questions you may be asking or you should be asking, what should I focus on next to grow on YouTube? Why? Because a hundred percent of people listening to this are at different stages. Some of us are just starting. We've never filmed a video before. Some of us are on video 500. Some of us have actually experienced a lot of success, and we're plateaued. Some of us have never had a breakout video. Some of us have more sophisticated businesses. Some of us don't even know what our business idea is or how we want to monetize. So knowing exactly the stage you're at when it comes to your YouTube, success is crucial. For knowing which next move you should make. Now that's not the topic of today's podcast, but I want to invite you. I'm actually hosting a free online class from side Hustle to sustainable success. The five stage system to reach 10k a month on YouTube. And it actually comes with an assessment guide, a YouTube money plan template. It's a live workshop training and you can register@thinkcreatorclass.com I'm doing live Q and A. I'm there live. It's gonna be a lot of fun. It's free, it's online, it's@thinkcreatorclass.com or you can use the link in the show notes if that sounds interesting to you, to register for that free class. The first shift was Mac Master packaging or get ignored. The second shift is income can still be up even if views are down. Income can still be up even if views are down. So on YouTube in 2026, the right views are a lot more important than more views. Period. The right views are more important than more views. You know, we mentioned it earlier, not all views are created equal. I heard a big media company recently talk that their metrics were messed up because they were actually combining shorts views and long form views and it was messing with all their business numbers. It's not that YouTube shorts are bad, but not all views are created equal. Like you could get a lot of views on YouTube shorts and have almost no impact or depth. And you also could get a lot of views on certain topics, but it doesn't attract an audience that would maybe want to do business with you. So the right views are a lot more powerful than just more views. And having a smart business model is more important than YouTube ads. You know, for example, a lot of real estate professionals listen to the Think Media podcast and are subscribed to our channel. And of course they realize that one YouTube view could be worth a thousand dollars. If I'm a real estate agent, if I'm a loan officer and I start even making vertical content on YouTube or across platforms, I might be impressed. Like whoa, one of my videos got a hundred thousand views or 500,000 views and it could lead to 0,0 business. But you also could post one simple video on YouTube, get 77 views and close a house and it could lead to thousands of dollars or even tens of thousands of dollars. So it's a mindset shift. Now, I'm not saying you should apply and get your real estate license this year. What I am saying is you should be thinking differently and really answering this Question, what business are you actually in or what business do you want to be in? What's going to be the greater business model connected to your YouTube channel? And even if it's the content itself, are you in a niche with high enough rpm? Are you in a niche where you're positioned and thinking about the longevity of how you're going to be doing brand partnerships and establishing yourself to be in the right business? Because even if views are down, income can be up, you know. Stacy Tuchel was a part of our one on one coaching program and she's a business growth expert. She helps small businesses. She's launched multiple dance studios herself and now runs a company called well Oiled Operations. And her channel's been growing. I mean, it's doing great Now. It's over 6,000 subscribers. But when she, you know, first came to us, she wasn't getting a ton of views. But as she started to apply some of our framework, she started to get the right views. In fact, she did a video. It was actually a live stream called Annual planning that actually works. And she went for about 55 minutes and that live stream got 736 views. Not a lot by YouTube standards. But it went from a YouTube live stream to the opportunity to actually book a call with her team. And on that call there was a $30,000 offer closed. Now again, she's reaching out to business. You might be like $30,000. It's crazy. Well, she reaches business owners that are doing a quarter million dollars a year. $30,000 is a very reasonable investment for the result that she applies to the right audience. So the key, who are you actually targeting and who are you actually able to help? And what business model could be connected to your YouTube channel? And the other key is you don't have to have $30,000 offers, but if you're just getting paid for YouTube views, you're making like 30 cents. You can make a lot more if you had a $30 offer of some kind or even a $10 book on Amazon or something else that you have to sell or promote. And so let's break this down though, because why did this work? Well, it was content offer alignment. She attracts high revenue business owners ready for premium strategic Solutions. She got $30,000 from just 736 views. The value per view for her was $40.76. If she was just getting YouTube ad revenue, the value per view would be around 74 cents. So how much more did having the right business model generate for her? Around 7,000 to 40,000 times higher ROI, higher return on investment. Because again, she wasn't just going after YouTube ad revenue. And she said this, while direct sales happen because of her YouTube content, her primary focus is actually brand awareness. This is one of the most underrated mindsets and convictions that we need to have when it comes to committing to YouTube in 2026. Brand Awareness, who knows you brand awareness, Are you findable brand awareness? What happens when somebody looks you up and looks at your YouTube content? I was coaching somebody recently in our elite program on we're doing like group coaching and they were mentioning, look, I'm staying in my job all year. They knew that. They're like, I like my job, my job is stable, I'm going to stay in my job and I'm building up my YouTube channel. And I said, number one, that's great that you have that conviction. It's really good clarity. So then they said, well, what am I trying to do on YouTube? And I said, you know, one of the biggest opportunities you have is to establish your personal brand. And your personal brand could lead to promotions in your existing job, could lead to earning more, can position you as a thought leader, the repurposing and strategic use of your content on LinkedIn. Because as a professional and an executive, this is very relevant for her. Now, of course, you need to know your company's policies as well. In some cases posting content on the Internet or what are you able to do? But she was perfectly positioned to be thinking about, man, I want to build my brand. Why? Because I said you're cool in your job. Now you're digging your well before you're thirsty. How awesome that you could think about, man, I'm using YouTube to build my brand, build awareness, build authority, build a niche, expertise, build my network, get to meet people. Most individuals underestimate the second order consequences of consistent YouTube content positioned well, packaged well. So she's like, yeah, direct sales happen through, you know, my YouTube channel. But my primary focus is brand awareness. And YouTube has been great for building visibility. And the engagement we're building is invaluable for long term growth. And I've learned consistency is key. That's what Stacy said. And so here's a quick framework that we use inside of one of our programs and it's called the VLS framework. And this is why views can be up even if income is down. And it's pretty simple. It stands for views, leads, sales. And if you want to get off the island of broke and get into the land of prosperity when it comes to YouTube, you want to be thinking about what views are you getting? Are you getting the right views? How are you capturing and turning those into leads? And then how are you generating sales? And what we've learned, and we do diagnostics with our clients, is that this bridge is broken oftentimes in many places. Maybe, maybe you're getting views, you're getting the wrong views. They might be getting leads, or a lot of leads are falling into the seat. Like if you picture a bridge, and if the bridge from one island to another island is incomplete, if someone started driving across that bridge, but it was missing a section, they're driving into the ocean. 99% of people listening to this, you have people that are just driving into the ocean and they're drowning. Kind of dark, kind of morbid, but because the bridge is broken. And so from views to leads to sales, there's so many pieces in that process that you can improve, fix, set up for the first time. You know, I heard a mentor once said, a mentor once said to me, hey, Sean, your income is directly correlated to the amount of buy buttons you have on your website. And it took me a second. I was thinking about the sentence my brain was processing. The wheels were turning. I was like, my income is directly correlated to the amount of buy buttons that I have on my website. And then here are my following thoughts. I don't even have a website. That was like, my first thought. I was like, shoot, buy buttons. I don't even have a website, okay? Secondly, I don't have any buy buttons because what would the buy button go to like? And so just that one statement caused me to be like, my bridge is broken. Like, there's no where do the views, where do they go and what do they do next? And by the way, you know, that even works for affiliate marketing. It even works for you promoting somebody else's stuff as an affiliate. Like, too many times I see YouTube videos and we do these diagnostics, right? We like, click on the links. It could go to somebody else's stuff. And I'm like, you know that this link is dead, right? Or it goes to the wrong place, right? Or that the place that it lands on is horribly optimized. Or like, there's so many other pieces. This isn't meant to stress you out. It's just to reveal the YouTube Bridge framework that if your bridge is broken, people are falling into the sea, and you got to fix that thing and make sure that it's working and that they'll then eventually, if it's eventually well paved and it's safe. And then you might open more lanes of traffic so that it's a superhighway from obscurity and from the island of Broke to the world of YouTube prosperity. The YouTube Bridge framework views, leads and sales. Here's your action item. You want to figure out the business you're building, not just the content you're making. What business are you building when it comes to your YouTube channel? The third strategic shift is this. Your personal brand is the only differentiator left. Your personal brand is the only differentiator left. Earlier, we learned that there are 20 million daily uploads on YouTube, so content is commoditized. Therefore, you are the only differentiator. So what does that mean? It means you. It means your style, your unique point of view, your packaging. It means your clothes, your. The way you talk, the way you look. You. You are the only you. And so your personal brand is the only differentiator left. If I just want some boring information to answer a simple question, I'm going to get that on AI in 2026. But people still want people. People want humans. People want connection. People are looking for mentors and guides and individuals with perspectives and experiences and breakthroughs and trauma. That's you. Your personal brand is the only differentiator left. And actually a fascinating story is that years ago, people actually warned me about a couple of things. One of the things they told me when I was creating YouTube content is they. They warned me about bringing up religion. They said, it'll hurt your brand. And I'm going to be honest, they were partially right. Because, you know, this, this channel, this podcast is all about helping you grow on YouTube, period. But if you've hung around here for any length of time, at some point, I eventually, like, bring up my faith or I bring up the Bible, by the way, because it's just who I am. It's not some, like, you know, tactic. It is an overflow of who I am. Here's my question for you. Who are you? What do you believe? What are your values? What are your convictions? What's interesting is I was warned about that and people were partially right because I did lose followers or I offended a few people and I definitely polarized some people. However, it resonated with others. And in a world where there's so many different options, you are harming yourself by over sanitizing your content. Like, we got to go Baskin and Robbins on this strategy. Your content can't just be vanilla like everything else. You need a little flavor, a little bit of Color. A little bit of. A little bit of difference. Maybe not everybody likes Rocky Road, but Rocky Road is liked by some people, right? Not everybody likes chocolate chip mint. Or not everybody likes some niche Ben and Jerry's flavor Coffee with sandal lace coffee with sandal, rubber and mint. Why is the rubber in the coffee? I don't know. Some people are into it. And so I go a little bit deeper, though. I made a video and it was called 3 YouTube tips from the Bible that will work for every creator now. I mean, you could research it even today on. On YouTube. I want to say that in a world of like billions of YouTube videos, literally no one in the world had made this video because I combined the thing I'm doing, the niche that a lot of people are doing, but with something that's just authentically me. And in doing so, created a unique angle, a unique point of view on my niche. And so in doing so, did I lose followers? Yeah, a couple unsubscribes. But what did I gain? Deep connection. And also gained a reputation like, oh, that's the guy. Like, he's a little bit too passionate about his faith. So. Okay, cool. Here's my. Here's my challenge for you. You know what's real, what's powerful about a personal brand is it doesn't just attract, it actually repels the wrong people so that the right people can go deeper. And so I want to challenge you. In 2026, your personal brand is the only differentiator left. And, you know, we actually have an event coming up in Vegas in a couple months. It's called our Think Media mastermind. In that event, it's one of the things we do deeply over a few days is really dig deep in who are you? What are your values? What are your core beliefs? Unpacking those aspects of your identity. And what we found is a lot of individuals and creators are actually kind of like. It's kind of like fear. It's kind of like a lack of self awareness. It's kind of like sometimes it's just hard to see the forest from the trees. And so myself and our coaches, like, this is. This is like the game is how do we unpack your smart content ideas that can be unique to you? The Think Media brand to content system, those unique parts of your brand and your personal brand and then. And then package and position those so your content can stand out online. But listen, this isn't just my opinion. Let's dive into some stats that talk about why your personal brand is the only differentiator left. Did you know that 70 of consumers say they buy from brands that reflect their values? Are your values written down? 75 of millennials and 63% of Gen Z would change to a brand that supports a cause they care about. What causes do you care about? What do you stand for? And then 84% of people globally report they need to share values with the brand to use it. So when you say competition is so fierce, fine, true. But also when you actually look at the landscape, there's just a lot of difference. People got different values, different life stages, different ethnicities, different backgrounds, all kinds of different things. Your challenge is how do I amplify that, codify that, and also remember that it's the not about you. It is about the listener, the end user, and the viewer and helping them achieve a result and helping them achieve a transformation. Yeah, but how do you position yourself? And why will they resonate with you? And how will they decide if they want to follow you or not? How does someone decide if they want to drive a Subaru or a Tesla? How does someone decide if they want to wear Patagonia or Supreme? These brands have values and stand for something and have differences to do to them. What's yours? What's yours? Now, really quick, let me be clear. This isn't about putting your religion or politics into every piece of content. I'm actually not suggesting that you're like, shoot, bro, I was just doing gardening. Do I have to now, like, really get all into the fire of politics that is happening right now? I'm not saying that. However, a portion of individuals listening to this maybe should be a little bit more outspoken if that's authentically you. Because again, I'm not like over injecting religion. Some people might think I am, but like, into my content, I am just literally a Bible geek. Like 2026. Every year I read the Bible cover to cover. This year I'm reading the John Maxwell Leadership Bible NIV translation. Excited to. To hit this one this year. Last year I did the nlt. Wide margin. What's the point? Like, it's just kind of an overflow of something that is authentically me. And I share that as an illustration for you to ask the question, what is that for you? Because you're actually like one thing away from breaking out on YouTube this this year. Actually, some of you are like 36 things away from breaking out on YouTube this year. But what I mean is, like, if you're kind of like doing a lot of things right, the. The brand piece could Be the piece that you're like, oh, it's clicking now. Because I figured out my voice and I figured out my difference and I figured out that thing, and now people are resonating with me. And I developed the courage outspoken about that thing or to weave that thing in my content, where some people are like, ah, yeah, they're not for me. So others could say they're. They're my person, they're the person I want to follow, they're the person I want to learn from, they're the person I want to go deeper with. So you don't have to put in religion or politics, but you should really be thinking about how personal brand is the only differentiator left. And so here's what we've been talking about. Number one, master video packaging or get ignored. Number two, your personal brand is the only thing that can't be copied. And number three, income can still be up even if views are down. But let me leave you with this. Everything we covered today, the shifts, the threats, the trend trends, it's all pointing to one thing. There's really never been a better time to get views, to build influence and monetize on YouTube. If you have the right strategy and if we're just meeting, but I don't know if I introduced myself, My name is Sean Cannell, your guide to building a profitable YouTube channel. And I've been on YouTube like 18 years. And if you look at where I started and when I started, I didn't have the gear, I didn't have the confidence, but I was committed. And what I've learned is now what we teach. That hasn't just helped me, but it's helped thousands of creators that we've impacted. Our students have now generated 29.2 billion views following our frameworks. And this reveals it's still a great time to start on YouTube. And I want to prove it to you. So Jamie came to us with around 300 subscribers, and she started about a year ago. So again, people still say it's just too late. You can't break through now. It's like, no, yes, you can. People are doing it all the time. People are literally doing it every day. People are going to start new YouTube channels as a result of listening to this podcast. And a year from now, you might be where Jamie is. So it's. She started right around a year ago, not with 3,000 subscribers, not with 30,300 subscribers. And she was struggling to get consistent views. And that part matters because some of her video work, some of her Videos work, some didn't. But instead of quitting, she kept learning. She kept working on her packaging, she kept working on her clarity, and she kept getting aligned. It was definitely helpful. She, you know, linked arms with us and we helped her get clear and helped her master these skills. Well, today, her YouTube channel generates over $10,000 a month across multiple income streams. And a year later, she's over 80,000 subscribers. And check this out. That's why I wanted to share the story with you. She shoots on her phone. One take with a teleprompter app. That doesn't mean that's the way you got to do it. But it's not about the gear. It's about clarity and it's about strategy. And one thing that was helpful for Jamie is she didn't need more motivation. She needed clarity about what to focus on next. So we covered a lot in this episode, but I want to make sure that if you're serious about YouTube this year, join me on think creator class.com, the free online class it's all about from side hustle to sustainable success. We're talking about the five stages to reach 10k months on YouTube. And it's about knowing where you are so you can know what to work on next. One of the biggest pitfalls that people fall into is they're imitating what, somebody that's years ahead or more sophisticated or that somebody that if you're trying to do exactly what some business owner or content creator is doing that you're following, that has like a staff of 10 people and is way further ahead in their career. It's not that their advice is bad. It's that their advice could be bad for you for where you are right now. So that's why this assessment that we've created in this class that's coming up is so powerful. So, anyways, totally free if you want to register, I'm going to be there live doing Q and a. Think creator class dot com. And also, if you're watching this on YouTube and this was valuable smash like, leave a comment. And if you're on the audio podcast, let me encourage you or ask you or plead with you. Can you leave a review this year, in 2026, can you review the Think Media podcast? At least give it a star rating on Spotify. My name is Sean Cannell. Your guide to building a profitable YouTube channel. Future looks bright. 2026 Think Media podcast. I can't wait to connect with you in a future episode.