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YouTube Creators Hub
From Teacher To Full-Time YouTube Creator | Tom Hitchins
00:36:31
In this episode of the YouTube Creators Hub podcast, host Dusty chats with Tom Hitchins from the Byte Review YouTube channel. Tom shares his journey from being a full-time teacher to a successful tech content creator with over 227,000 subscribers. He...
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- [00:00]
Tom Hitchens
I used to be a full time teacher, so I've been making videos for like pretty much 10 years now on YouTube and for those first three years I didn't make a penny, which a lot of people probably find shocking. They always expect to start a YouTube channel and be famous and earn loads of money off the bat. But yeah, I didn't for a long time.
- [00:16]
Dusty
Welcome to this week's episode of the YouTube Creators Hub podcast. Dusty here and I'm so thankful that you're here. If you're looking to start, grow or monetize a YouTube channel, this is the podcast for you. You can consume this show in your podcast player of Choice and normal YouTube in a video version. Unfortunately, this week we have no video version due to some health issues with the guest. But normally you can watch the video on YouTube. We have no sponsors on this show. If you'd like to support us, we offer creators a ton of different resources. Number one, I offer one on one YouTube coaching. I do channel audits and reviews. All of that will be linked down below. And for five bucks a month you can get access to our Mastermind group where we do Mastermind calls once a month as well as exclusive podcast episodes released on that feed every single Friday. So if you would check out all of our resources down below in the show notes. And with that said, let's jump into this week's conversation. Hello and welcome to this week's conversation on the Creators Hub podcast. I am super excited today to be joined by Tom Hitchens. He is from The Bite Review YouTube channel. As of recording of this episode, 227,000 subscribers, just over 350 videos. He covers everything technology over there. Tom, how you doing today?
- [01:33]
Tom Hitchens
I'm good, thank you. How are you?
- [01:35]
Dusty
I'm doing wonderful. So your channel, when I, when I go to your channel, I'll have to admit I have consumed some of your videos during the, the tech craziness of all the new releases of new technology. And you are definitely one of those channels that I go to. I love the style of your videos. You have a very clean and minimalistic style to your videos and we'll certainly get into that. But before we get started, you know, it says on your channel that you are calm aesthetic tech videos on Apple Design and productiv. That's a really cool little niche that you've put yourself in. How did you get started on YouTube?
- [02:10]
Tom Hitchens
Well, thank you. First and foremost, I'm glad you like the videos. It's always, always nice to hear. There's lots to watch out there. So it's kind of you. How did I get started? Basically I was working as a media technician at a local college. I'm giving the abridged version because the story's quite long. And I was. One of my jobs was lending out cameras to students. This was, yeah, back in 2015, 2016, and I had no idea how to use cameras. And then I always loved YouTube, so I was just watching a lot of YouTube in my kind of downtime in that job because I was in like a little cupboard of a room. So I just had so much time to watch like digital rev TV and you know, things like that back then and like the camera store TV and you know, all the old camera reviewers. And I was like, oh, maybe I should buy a camera and then figure out how to use it. And then I thought, well, what better way to learn how to use a camera properly than to actually start a YouTube channel? I watch it all day, every day. I, you know, I need to put where my, my camera, where my mouth is and have an actual go because, you know, I've always loved tech stuff. I used to work in a phone shop, which kind of probably makes sense if you look at my videos now. And yeah, I just, I just got started. That's. There's the advice I always give to people as well, is like, if you want to do something, just give it a go. And that's exactly what I did.
- [03:27]
Dusty
And for, you know, I, I read the brief description that you have on your channel there, but what would you tell people listening to this if they went to your channel? You know, what, what have you kind of fell into as far as the types of videos and content that you create?
- [03:42]
Tom Hitchens
It's. There is, there's definitely a focus, there's definitely a little Apple focus on that, but I have like explored out of there quite a lot lately. I did a lot of retro gaming stuff, but I like to call it kind of like, it's. It's more like tech lifestyle. It's more of like a how you use it, how to get the most out of it and like more personal stuff like what I actually like about this and what I don't like about that, rather than like, you know, a lot of, A lot of reviews are very like publishing worthy. You know, you can put them on any website and they kind of make sense. Whereas I feel like mine, you might, you might need to know me a little bit before they kind of make complete sense. And yeah, so I, you know, for people that aren't that interested, I just Say it's tech in general. Like I talk about laptops and phones and stuff, but for people that are into it, yeah, I always say a little bit further like that.
- [04:29]
Dusty
All right, so we kind of know what kind of content that you create now. Now let's talk about, you know, transition more into the process of now. Are you doing this full time? Is this full time gig for you now?
- [04:39]
Tom Hitchens
Yeah, full time for two and a half years now.
- [04:43]
Dusty
What was the thing that made you decide or when you were kind of maybe wavering whether or not to go YouTube full time? Was there a deciding factor? Was there a milestone you wanted to get to? What really determined it for you?
- [04:54]
Tom Hitchens
Yeah, there definitely was. I used to be a full time teacher, so I've been making videos for like pretty much 10 years now on YouTube. And for those first three years I didn't make a penny, which a lot of people probably find shocking. They always expect to start a YouTube channel and be famous, earn loads of money off the bat. But yeah, I didn't for a long time. But basically I decided to go full time when the YouTube offers suddenly got bigger than my paid teacher salary and, you know, exponentially. So not like a little bit. It was just like, you know, if I do this one video, I'll double what I would make from my full time salary for that month. And I was like, I can't keep turning this stuff down because I was turning it down because I was obviously too busy at work. So yeah, I just, I kind of thought if I gonna, you know, there's never a good time to do anything. There really isn't. So I thought, I'll just go for it. And at the time, me and my girlfriend just bought a house, so having like a, a stable job seemed like the right move. But I was like, you know what, I really like this. And I gotten to the point where I hated teaching and all that sort of stuff, and teaching post Covid as well was never the same again. So it would just that that really pushed me as well. So that was basically it.
- [06:05]
Dusty
Yeah. My wife's a teacher, so I know the inner workings just from just seeing her kind of go through the process. As far as being a creator full time, what is something that people wouldn't realize about that people who are aspiring to do that, to do content creation, what is something that now that you've done it for a while, you can say to those people, yeah, you think that it's this way, but it's not.
- [06:28]
Tom Hitchens
I'd say it's definitely the amount of work you have to put in. Because I, you know, I never stop. I work now more than I've ever worked in my entire life. And I love making it and I love doing it and all that sorts of things. But yeah, you know, I never stop. I was saying to you earlier, before we started this podcast, I've got a bit of a health issue at the moment and even now I'm finding it so difficult to, you know, put the tools down and stuff because I, you know, what I make is directly tied to what I earn, but also like, I love it, I love making this stuff. So being off, it just feels so wrong to me. You know, I've got so many thoughts and ideas and things. So I'll find other ways to do it. Like I wrote a newsletter and stuff, which is something I haven't done in a few months is like, I got time to do that. I've drafted out like four or five videos because I can do that. And I'm like filming in very. I get two, two point. Sorry, I get one point in the day where I get about two hours of being okay enough to do something. So I'll make heavy use of that before I can't do anything again. So yes, it's definitely the workload. Oh my God.
- [07:31]
Dusty
Do you think that is one of the things that keeps people from continuing through those early phases of, like you said, there were years there where you didn't make a dime. What do you think was it for you that propelled you on to get to the point to where you were getting offers large enough for you to step away from your 9 to 5 and do this full time?
- [07:54]
Tom Hitchens
The honest to God simple answer is I just loved making the stuff. You know, this is my hobby. It wasn't. I never, when I started, I never had the goal of like, let's make money and let's make this my full time job. That was never, ever the goal. The goal was I'm making videos because I like making videos and that's how I spend my spare time. And that, you know, there was times where I would say, hey, no, I'm not going to go to that party or you know, this weekend I'm just going to work on this video because that's what I wanted to do. That's kind of the sacrifice you have to make. But yeah, that, that was how for me it just comes down to a really simple thing. I love the process of making videos. Simple as that.
- [08:34]
Dusty
So loving the process is important. Being passionate about the topic is super important. Now let's talk about the systems in place. You can say all you want, oh, well, I'll wake up and I'll make videos every day. It won't be a problem. But what systems have you put in place that have helped you make sure that you stick and stay consistent with your uploads?
- [08:56]
Tom Hitchens
This is a great question, because the honest truth is, and here's a real peek behind the curtain, is I don't really have a system in place. I would love to say I time block and I use my calendar and I do all these things, but the truth is I don't. I like to think of it as like an energy tank of creativity. And when it's at its fullest, I can make stuff. Apps, like, I can make loads of stuff and I'm really excited about it. And as soon as that tank, like gets empty, I find it hard to make. I find it hard to, like, carry on. So, you know, it does come back to that love of. Love of making them. I'll just be able to refill that tank because I'll have a new idea or I have a new shot that I want to get and I'm like, oh, my God. And that will lead to another thing and another thing and another thing. There are some things I do like, I'll make sure I've got a shot list. And I don't use a script anymore. I just bullet point things and talk at the camera. I tend to find that. I say that's probably the only system I have in place is I used to write a full script and read it off a teleprompter, which I think a lot of YouTubers still do. But I don't write how I talk. So I tend to find when I was doing that, I was sounding very like robotronic, you know, like a little bit just on rails. And you can tell when other YouTubers do it because their eyes lock at the camera, they don't really look off. And I just find that doing bullet points and then kind of asking myself the question. Like, in my head I'd be like, oh, Tom, what do you think of the camera on, you know, this phone or whatever? And I'll just be able to spool off like two or three minutes of, you know, sometimes it's rough and it takes a lot of editing. But, you know, I'm. I'm pretty good at getting my thoughts out now. So. Yeah, sorry, I don't have a better answer to that. I'm just not a very, like, kind of straight up Organized person in that way.
- [10:43]
Dusty
Yeah, no, I'm with you. I'm, I'm not either really. But there are certain baseline systems that I've had to put in play. Just kind of guardrails to make sure that I am getting the, the, what I need to be, you know, the, the things that are going towards my goals. Right. I have goals that I'd like to achieve. Not necessarily people would be surprised. They're not necessarily numerically as far as subscribers or monetarily with money. It's more just like the impact you want to have or the amount of videos you want to release, the quality improvements you want to have, you know, with you and your YouTube channel. What helped you with, with camera presence and confidence on camera? Did you always have it from the beginning or was it something you had to work at? And if so, what helped you?
- [11:24]
Tom Hitchens
Well, like I say, I was a full time teacher, so I still, I had a little bit of the, you know, every day as a teacher you are kind of presenting to a class of people or you know, you've got to remain somewhat entertaining to us, teaching 16 to 20 year olds, that sort of range. So it's not like I was teaching like straight up children, but I was, you know, you still have to remain engaging especially like because they've all got phones and stuff so it's very easy for them to lose attention. So I had a lot of practice in that area. But a lot of the times I've been into tech before any of this, before I'd even bought a camera and that sort of thing. And I always enjoyed showing people it and being like, hey look, did you know you could do this? Did you know you could do that? And like I find showing people that quite exciting. Like I'm like, oh yeah, you know, cool. Did you know you could do this too? And you can get more out of your, I think Game Boy at the time or something if you, if you buy this or do that. So yeah, on camera presence helped through the teaching. But I didn't appear on camera until about, but maybe three years in. I was B rolling the whole thing. And yeah, one of the best things I did was started using a roll because filming B roll for the entire video is a lot of work and then just voicing it over because then you, you have to have a clip for absolutely everything you say. Whereas if you have a roll where you can just cut back to yourself and if you're trying to explain a abstract concept, it's quite difficult to show that off in b Roll. Whereas if you just cut back to yourself, it's very much easier. It also gives. It helped the channel grow a huge amount camera. So I'd always recommend that to people is like, definitely film yourself.
- [12:59]
Dusty
One of the things that I find unique about you is just your overall aesthetic of your channel. It's very minimal, very clean. Like we mentioned in the beginning, how important is it for a channel like yours in the technology space to stand out and have something that makes them different and unique? And can you talk to the audience about how they might could implement that in their niche? Whether it be, you know, gaming, which is a big one, or real estate, which is a big one, or business and finance, you know, you can't really show up and just start creating. And everyone loves throwing around words in terms like, you know, find outliers and see what's working for other people and kind of implement it, you know. And I've caught myself saying the same things, but you really have to stand out and find things that make you unique. And how have you done that to help kind of put yourself at the top of the tech space?
- [13:49]
Tom Hitchens
That's very kind of you sitting at the top, basically. For me, I think a lot of YouTubers who start out, and I was the same, you'll look at someone like MKBHD or, you know, another one of the big tech channels and you think, well, my videos have to look that good off the rip, and if they're not, then I don't know what I'm doing, you know, why would anyone bother watching me? But the truth is you have to. You have to really lean into what makes you. You so like. And you may have noticed, but my. My videos especially really focus on being kind of colorful and bringing in loads of elements that a lot of that doesn't make sense of a lot of tech stuff. So I'll. I'll have. Most tech videos online are very clean, super minimal, almost sterile looking like they're filmed in a hospital sometimes. And I always found that a bit grating. And I love things like studio Ghibli films and I a big, like fan of like Japanese animation and graphic design. So any way I can bring that into my videos, that's effectively what I did. So I used to have like Ghibli videos playing in the background or I would like use some album covers on the side to show off what I really love. But then eventually that just turned into this kind of like almost pastel aesthetic, which I don't think anyone else has kind of got. I'VE seen some people emulate it, but, you know, in a way, it's always flattering for someone to do that about you. And I don't mind at all. But, yeah, for me, it's just. I just knew I couldn't compete in those areas, and I was like, there's no point even trying. So I'm just going to do what I can do and bring in the stuff I love. And I recommend that to anybody. You know, show what you're passionate about. You know, showing off. Studio Ghibli's got nothing to do with the latest iPhone, but you'll know if it's one of my videos, because it will be in there somewhere.
- [15:35]
Dusty
All right, guys, I interrupt this interview briefly to tell you about two things. Number one, we have channel audits and reviews available right now. They're linked down below. If you want someone to take a look at your channel for about six to eight minutes and give you some advice on things that you could be doing better, things that you're doing well, and just an overview of the channel. I'll take a look at your channel, send you the screen recording straight to your email. It's a really fun and inexpensive way to get another set of eyes on your channel. And don't forget to check out our email newsletter called the Entrepreneur's Minute, where I share things and resources that are interesting to me, me and are helping me in growing my business. Not just my creator business, but my business in general. With that said, let's go ahead and jump back into the interview. Yeah. Because that could be the thing that resonates with that person where you and MKBHD may be talking about the same phone or device, but what makes these people want to watch you is your unique aesthetic or the way that you talk or the way that you present or whatever it may be. And so people ask me all the time, well, is it too late to get into X, Y or z Space on YouTube? And it's not. I mean, would you agree? I mean, people could start a channel today in the technology space, compete with you, mkbhd, all the other guys. And, you know, you look at someone like Ijustine who did, you know, the. The technology thing from way back, and. And how she has evolved over time and changed and. And, you know, what made her different was her humor and putting herself out there and. And just the things of that nature. And it still is possible to start a channel in these crowded spaces on YouTube. Would you agree?
- [17:03]
Tom Hitchens
A hundred percent has never been an easier time to start A channel now, when, back when I started, you needed to buy a camera to know how to record your voice. And now you can just point your phone at something. And with platforms like TikTok and, you know, Instagram, you can, you can grow an audience so, so quickly. And, you know, things like quality and stuff on those platforms don't really matter as much anymore. If you've got like a phone and something to say about something, you can start a channel, you know, today, in, in five minutes, you know, when, back in 2015, 16, when I started, you know, I had to research the camera and find the right microphone and there's so much more to do. The barrier to entry back then was huge, and the barrier to entry now is tiny, and it's only getting easier and easier and easier with every new phone to be able to make content.
- [17:54]
Dusty
So one of the things that is making a big wave right now, not just in YouTube but in everything, is artificial intelligence. What is your stance there? Are you utilizing it? What tools are you using? If so, and what are your just thoughts about how it's going to affect the creator space moving forward?
- [18:13]
Tom Hitchens
My hope is that with the amount of slop that it does produce, that people will crave the human experience and just come back to creators. It may go down for a little bit and then I think people will just get so sick of AI stuff, you know, I don't know. That's all conjecture. And personally, I use. I use ChatGPT like probably everybody else on the planet at this point. I'll. What I'll generally do in terms of using it for YouTube help is I'll feed it my bullet points as a script, as such, and I'll just be like, is there any, anything here that would help it flow better? So in terms of like, talking about stuff, and occasionally it will make a decent change and sometimes it outright won't. I tend to. Also, I'll design my thumbnails as well and I'll upload my thumbnails to ChatGPT and just say, get. Review this. Give me any advice. I don't ask it to make anything. I just go, give me a rating out of 10. Any suggestions? Look at all my old thumbnails and tell me what you think. Like I said, usually it doesn't give me very good advice, but sometimes it gives me something solid and I'll implement that back into the thumbnail. Sometimes it's like, I'll change the wording to this. Or sometimes, like, have you thought about adding an arrow here? You know, it's just little things like that which I find really useful. So, yeah, that's kind of how I use it.
- [19:33]
Dusty
What are your strategies off platform, off of YouTube? You have a beautiful website which, which you've created that, that has kind of all of your, you know, you sell wallpapers for devices, you have physical merch, you have different things that you're selling. And we'll talk about monetization here brief shortly. But for you, how important is it to have a space off platform that's not ruled and owned by YouTube?
- [19:58]
Tom Hitchens
It's re. It's really important if you've got something more to add. I think if, if your website is just another gateway to YouTube, then, you know, it's fine. It's good to have a shop window as such, but if it's not offering anything, then no one's really going to visit it. For me, the Kuroky website is just good for having like little, little bits of merch. We sell the wallpapers which are our biggest seller by a long, long stretch. But by such a long stretch we often wonder why we bother with the physical side. But yeah, it is really important. And for me as well, I think it adds to the overall experience of my channel because when I, when I see people out in the open or podcast other creators and they've got one of my wallpapers, it's like they're part of like a little club. They kind of know, you know, you know, without saying anything that they enjoy it and stuff. And I've had a few people come up and especially at the Apple event, say, oh, look, I'm using your wallpaper. I'm like, oh, thank you so much. That means, you know, huge amount.
- [20:51]
Dusty
Yeah, so, yeah, that's, that's really neat. And, and I agree with you. I think that you have to have something to say in order to have this, the space, the real estate online, whatever it may be. But I would encourage creators listening that it needs to be a forethought of, hey, you know, maybe it's not something you do now, but going forward, if you really want to take this thing serious, having other outlets like a website, like a newsletter that you mentioned are extremely important. You mentioned you sell wallpapers and your website and you also make money through ad revenue. Can you break down the sources of revenue that you have as a creator and maybe give us on average what you might make in a normal month?
- [21:25]
Tom Hitchens
Sure. So the income, as with any creator, and I'm sure you notice it kind of is all over the place. There's so many different little bits and there' lots of big bits. But Obviously I get YouTube AdSense, which is what you get from people watching your videos. That is small. I don't know what it's like for people getting a lot more views than me, but for me that's never been huge. It does, it does. You know, I'll put it out there. It does pay my half of the mortgage, so I'm not complaining at that point. That's great. Amazon affiliate is another one. Another one is affiliates from other websites which aren't on Amazon. So like sometimes, like brands will have their own affiliate portal which does better than Amazon. So there's that too. There's the Kiroku website from the wallpaper sales. So that's one. And then the big one for creators is sponsorships. So YouTube sponsorships, my Instagram and TikTok are also, I don't want to say big enough, but they're big enough now to get in sponsorships, which they weren't a couple years ago. So that's, that's taken off as well. On average a month, it's almost hard to place because it really varies. And this is something you've got to get used to. If you are in the creator space, you might have like an amazing month and then you might have the most quiet month ever. It's just how. It's just how it falls. I'd say on average I probably do between. Sorry, we're talking British pounds here, so I'm not sure how that would translate, but between 5 and 8 on average. And then I have had months where it's gone way up. Like one month last year I pulled nearly 30 in a month, which was mad, which was extra mad because like I said, I was a teacher before and I was earning under two grand a month doing that. So, you know, but those months are few and far between. But I know for some creators they'll be every month, you know, and it's.
- [23:18]
Dusty
A bit seasonal for you too, because if it's like Techtober and like all the technology's coming out and Apple just had a big event and they have another one here coming up in October. May kind of have to really, really optimize the time, right? And I had a guy who is a NBA channel, a National Basketball association here in America covering that league and he was saying during the season and during the playoffs, you really have to optimize and really kind of figure out kind of what the optimal times are. Now you talked about sponsors and Getting sponsors for your video. And I watched say you did your video a couple of weeks ago, iPhone 17 Pro Max, a day in the life. I watched that video. Their sponsor in there. What, what are the, what is that process like? I mean, how are you reaching out to them? How are you connecting with them? Are they reaching out to you? Do you have a contract? And what, what on average do you get paid for a sponsor placement in a video? In what view range it?
- [24:12]
Tom Hitchens
Again, it depends. It's. This is another thing with being a creator. It's the wild west in terms of charging and what you get and what you don't get. I don't do view guarantees because I find it, I don't, I don't gamble with my income. So if a brand wants to work with me, they have to accept that. Might get loads of views, it might not get many views, it might get, you know, it might end up somewhere in the middle. So I always make that very clear to them. I'm like, I don't, I don't operate on that basis because it's not fair for me. And I'm a solo creator. I don't have anyone, I don't have a team, I don't have an agency, I don't have a manager or a boss or anything like that. It's all me. So I'm like, look, to make things easy, there is no, you know, the price is the price, simple as that. If you want it, cool, if not, don't worry. Yeah. So brands always get in touch with me. I don't actively reach out to anybody. I just got an email. Once you hit a certain point on YouTube, you'll just start getting emails, they'll just start coming in. You'll get a lot of rubbish, a huge amount of rubbish, which are usually all in broken English or something as well, which have been ran through Google Translate. But you'll, you'll also get some ones which are definitely worth following up on in terms of like sponsor rates. Like my, I'm trying to, I don't know if I should convert this to USD for your audience, but.
- [25:30]
Dusty
No, it's okay.
- [25:31]
Tom Hitchens
Okay for me, for, I'll, I'll do £2,500 for a YouTube, you know, like a 60 second spot at the absolute minimum. And that's if I like the brand, I like the company and then, but that's, I always start at about three and a half and then see what I can get. If I can get that then cool. And if not, I'll, you know, I'll go down to two and a half. As long as it's a brand I like and stuff.
- [25:58]
Dusty
Will you tell the brand? Like, you have no View guarantees, but will you tell the brand, hey, here's what, on average, I've been getting the past 90 days. Like, how do you at least give them some bit of confidence of knowing that it'll get a certain amount?
- [26:13]
Tom Hitchens
I've got a media pack which I put together, which is all in the style of, like, my website. If you saw it, you'd be like, oh, yeah, that's the bike review pack. And that gives, like, averages on, like, view counts, you know, demographics, locations, all that sort of stuff. But I, generally speaking, I don't. I don't give them anything other than that. I got to admit, it hasn't. If you did that, I would imagine you'd probably be able to convert better or, you know, do better. But, yeah, I generally don't. I'd just be like, look, this is the average view count for YouTube. For a channel my size, that generally does pretty good. So if you want to go for it, then go for it. And if not, don't worry.
- [26:49]
Dusty
For someone listening to this podcast who is discouraged about the amount of views they're getting or the traction or whatever the growth is that they think they should be getting, what would you tell that person, that creator, as far as getting through the doldrums, getting through that part of the process?
- [27:08]
Tom Hitchens
My first thing I'd say is it happens to everybody. It really does. It happens to the best of creators, too, because sometimes you'll see creators that have millions on each video, and it's like, oh, they're doing all right. But if their average is like 4 million, they get a video that's, like, done 1 million, that's like a huge downturn. So they've got to. They've got to adapt on the go as well. The base, yeah. Basically, what I would do and what I've done myself, personally, when you go through a couple of videos that don't hit or, you know, traction goes off, is I'll go back to what has worked and then I'll find a way to remix that content or remake something like that. I tend to find it's like bringing your audience back in and reminding them of. Of what they're there for in the first place. What, you know, what, what, what on your channel made them go, oh, my God, this. This person's awesome. And then I kind of redo that content. So for me, a lot of that stuff was iPad Based a huge amount of it was. That's where I got a lot of growth from. And then when, you know, I have. I haven't done too much iPad stuff this year because I managed to branch out a little bit, which I was happy about. But yeah, I would definitely. That's why I sometimes go back to. If I know an iPad update is coming or if I've had a few videos that haven't done too well, I'm like, well, what's changed with iPad lately? What can I do there? Because people always love my iPad stuff.
- [28:23]
Dusty
Is it hard when you get known for something to branch out? Like you get known for, let's just say, for instance, a gamer gets known for Fortnite, you know, years ago or Minecraft and then they're trying to branch out. I've had a lot of gaming channels hire me to coach them and, and we talk about this ad nause, but how important is it that you do niche down? And so maybe we talk about that as a broader topic right now, just, just for a second. What are your thoughts on that as far as being known as the iPad guy or the guy that does this specific thing on YouTube, you know, as far as for you and your experience?
- [29:02]
Tom Hitchens
Yeah, I mean, basically my channel wasn't going very. It wasn't expanding at any point until I started focusing on the iPad. And then it really started to grow pretty massively. And then, yeah, basically did push myself into this iPad niche. And then this year I knew, I thought, I can't keep making iPad stuff forever. It will drive me insane. As much as I love the device you do get stuck in, you get stuck in a niche definitely, and you get known for it. And breaking out of it is really hard. It's probably the hardest thing I've had to do on this channel by a long stretch. And I knew my views would go down and everything. But I always find a way to, like I said, revenue, make sure you don't forget about that audience. So I'll still cover iPad stuff and I'll still do iPad stuff. But I just found what else my audience loved as well. Because if they like iPad, then they'll likely enjoy, you know, other stuff From Apple, like MacBook stuff and iPhone stuff. And if they like that, then, you know, if they like my stuff, they're probably gonna be interested in desk setups and how I make everything look nice and I can talk about that. And then one of the big ones this year for me was like everyday carry content that did really well for me. So I found a few ways to incorporate the iPad back into that. So it's kind of finding those circles that cross over. So if someone's like really known for Fortnite and they want to switch to like, you know, something completely different, then it might be worth doing like one for them, one for you, one for them, one for you, until it just becomes the normal sort of content cycle.
- [30:32]
Dusty
What's your thought on short form content? Vertical video?
- [30:36]
Tom Hitchens
Good. It's a tough question because I was kind of, I was really late to shortform. I was pretty anti shortform when it came out and then someone really convinced me to do it. He's like, you need to do it, man, you need to do it. And I was like, okay, fine, I did do it. And then I managed to grow my Instagram quite heavily with shortform. Shortform is great and at the moment it's definitely in the zeitgeist. Like, you know, I've been to these Apple events lately, like the latest iPhone launch and I'd say like 90% of the people there were short form creators. You know, it was short form heavy. So it just shows where all the eyeballs are at the moment. My slight worry, I guess with short form is I don't know if it will stick around forever. I don't know if it will have the longevity of like YouTube because a lot of short form creators, you know, you ask them and they all want to get on YouTube. They don't, you know, like, oh, I wish I had this audience on YouTube. They'll have like a, a couple million on TikTok and their YouTube channel will be on like 20,000 or something. It'll be quite low.
- [31:34]
Dusty
Right.
- [31:35]
Tom Hitchens
So I feel like YouTube's here to stay. I do worry of things like, you know, with how America have treated it and that sort of thing and people, you know, people want to unplug from the scrolling all the time, whereas YouTube is a little bit more immune to that. So yeah, that's my thoughts.
- [31:52]
Dusty
Yeah, I would agree. And just to follow up, how are you using short form without, you know, not necessarily in terms of like TikTok and the Instagram, but like on YouTube, how are you using it?
- [32:03]
Tom Hitchens
It.
- [32:03]
Dusty
And because it seems like you've had some to do really well for you. Are you using it as a test bed for long form? Are you using it as a supplement for people who want more? Like, what are your thoughts?
- [32:12]
Tom Hitchens
I, I use it, I basically use it as a. On, on YouTube. I'm very, very picky about what short form I'LL upload on Instagram and TikTok. TikTok. I'll put anything up. Like if I've got a rough idea, I'll make it and upload it because I, I don't care too much about performance on those because they don't pay on performance. I know TikTok does a bit, but Instagram doesn't pay you for anything, whereas YouTube is like, YouTube's my baby. And I don't want anything like low quality on there, really. You know, people are, people know my channel for having nice stuff. So I'm super picky about what I put on there if I know it'll be of interest. Like, you know, like for me, an iPhone unboxing long form is boring, but a short form of that makes perfect sense because it's, you know, you're just unboxing an iPhone. If it's like a really short example of a new iPad thing that I can't make a whole video about, then I'll make a short form of it. But yeah, my short form on YouTube is they're few and far between compared to what I put elsewhere. But I don't use them as funnels to my main content because to be honest, I don't think that works. I think the audience is different for short form and long form. I think it always has been, I think it always will be be.
- [33:23]
Dusty
So my last question for you is this, what is next for you? Like, what's the next step? What are you looking to do? And maybe some, some short and long term goals for the channel and just your creative business altogether.
- [33:35]
Tom Hitchens
Yeah, for, for me, I managed to like smash a few of those goals this year. Like one of my biggest goals I've had for a long time is, is to go to an Apple event in America. And I did that this year, which I was super happy about. Last year I managed to get my studio, or the year before, which I was, you know, because I was working at home for this whole time. But getting a studio where I can actually have everything, everything set up and, you know, be quicker to go was a big one for me too. So at the moment I'm kind of. My goal, and this is just an overall goal for me as well, is to continue doing what I'm doing in a sustainable way because I have these horrible, you know, being a creator, there's no, there's no job security, it's not like a regular job. So I think to myself, every month I get to do this. I'm so lucky. It's Lucky mixed in with tons of hard work. Mainly hard work. Luck plays a little bit of a role. But in terms of goals, you know, a lot of people ask me why I don't have an editor or why I don't have a manager or anything like that. And the truth is I couldn't be more happy where I am. And I know that might not be a common answer because a lot of people expand and expand and expand, and that's not really what I'm looking for. I'm not here to be the next Mr. Who's the Boss or MKBHD. That's never been the goal. The goal is to go and work on stuff I absolutely love every day in a cool environment. And I kind of have that now. So the goal is to keep that.
- [35:03]
Dusty
Yeah, I respect that answer. I think that's really empowering to know that you control it and you don't have to go outside of that to do so. I think that everyone's aspirations can be different in YouTube provides us with such a. It's such a platform and it's so amazing that, that we can have that platform. And I'm so thankful for what I get to do and I can hear it coming from you that you're so thankful for what you get to do. And I'll say this in closing, I hope your, your back gets sorted out. I know when you're in pain like that, it messes everything up. And so I'll certainly be, you know, be praying and thoughts and prayers for you in, in going forward. That's why we don't have a video this week of the the podcast. I wanted to have Tom on, but he couldn't sit up to. To do the video. And so we' a little uniquely today, but I really appreciate your time today and I know you're going to have continued success whatever you decide to do with the channel. So thanks again.
- [35:54]
Tom Hitchens
No problem. Thanks so much for having me.
- [35:56]
Dusty
And that's a wrap on this week's episode of the Creators Hub podcast. What an excellent interview. I'm so thankful that Tom joined us this week. Don't forget to check out all the resources that we offer to creators down below. One on one coaching mastermind group channel audits and reviews. The email newsletter the Entrepreneurs Toolbox, which is a spreadsheet of curated resources from all the episodes of this podcast. And lastly, don't forget to subscribe to the show, whether it be on YouTube, the video version, or on your podcast player of choice. So every Friday when we go live with a new episode. You'll be notified. With that said, take care and have a great week.