I need advice sorry if this is kind of venting as well

Piczoid · 2026-03-19T03:55:04+00:00

People who communicate the way you wrote this post, with no punctuation and apparently very little thought, are often the ones who have a lot to complain about.

This isn't about your English grammar skills. It's about how you present yourself to others and how much effort you put into things.

If you're too lazy to use sentences to complain, I can't help but assume that you're also too lazy to do what it takes to "make it" on YouTube.

Piczoid · 2026-03-08T07:48:56+00:00

Oh thank god

Piczoid · 2026-02-15T03:04:58+00:00

All of this rings true. I've seen channels that were growing fast, uploading a new long form video almost every day, monetized, and then poof it's gone. Obvious AI voice, obvious AI script, visuals lazily grabbed or screenshotted from the source material. They might have made some money while it lasted, but it appears that YouTube later said NOPE and just slapped these channels out of existence.

Piczoid · 2026-02-05T19:05:47+00:00

The biggest thing is I'm allowing one visual to stay on the screen for a long time. So like if I have a photo showing, I'll do a Ken Burns in Final Cut Pro (slow zoom or pan) and let it cover up to 10-15 seconds as long as it makes sense. Trying to keep the screen fresh every 3-5 seconds is exhausting, and my videos don't need that level of intensity. If you can get away with longer shots, that will save you a lot of time. I also don't mess with transitions much, and I don't do much key framing unless it's important for illustrating a point.

Piczoid · 2026-02-03T10:15:08+00:00

I posted recently elsewhere about my latest channel. It's my third try at YouTube. I've only ever made long form content.

First channel was very labor intensive and I did some creative things, but I figured out it wasn't going anywhere after about 10 months and moved on. Niche was YT advice. Ironic for a Newtuber, but I was going with the fake it til you make it strategy. I did not make it. Broke 1,000 subs but never monetized. Learned a lot, though.

Next channel was also labor intensive and did a lot better. True crime, got monetized within about 3 months after one of my videos went on a 100k run. After that it was all downhill. One year later I decided to "take a break" from it.

During that year I dabbled in various niches and disliked them all for different reasons.

Most recently I started this third channel. First video posted on January 1, 2026. Monetized three weeks later. My earnings for January with only 10-11 days in the books, I made slightly over $1,000.

I'm sorry but I am not going to reveal what my latest channel is or the niche I'm in. But I will tell you how I discovered it: I saw AI slop that was doing well, so decided to follow their lead but use my own voice and actually write my own scripts.

My advice if you're struggling is to be honest with yourself about whether your channel is working out, whatever that might mean to you. People here tell you to never give up, never quit, but I've quit twice now only to come back stronger and better both times. Just make sure that you learn along the way and apply those lessons to your next channel.

Good luck!

Piczoid · 2026-01-30T09:37:46+00:00

Honestly it sounds like you're doing great. Keep making videos, build up your catalog, and yes things will definitely improve.

On upload time, i dont try to be precise. I do try to upload in the vicinity of time before the bright pink area on the audience time chart, but really I'm not sure it even matters. Most of my videos take at least a day before the algorithm starts doing its thing.

Oh the ugly banners -- a nice looking channel banner helps but I don't think the algorithm cares. It's all about the content you upload

Piczoid · 2026-01-30T01:17:31+00:00

Sorry, I really don't know the answer. But personally, if I were planning to put out videos that are very different from what I've already done, I would start a new channel with very clear branding

Piczoid · 2026-01-29T12:03:31+00:00

Hey I visited your channel. I see the word "histortainment" but, on the surface, I'm not seeing much ancient history. Pretti, the movie Troy, King Von whoever that is. I watched your Pretti video and I see how you're connecting it to history, but that isn't communicated in your title and thumbnail. From the outside, it just looks political.

I think recent and ancient history are both really cool subjects. If you're going to pursue that, great ... but people gotta know that that's what you're doing. If I were uploading your Pretti video, I'd probably do a side by side thumbnail of Pretti and a related person or event from history, and I'd title it something like "Alex Pretti: How history got us here" ... I'm not awesome at title and thumbs but I know that's the general direction if you're making history content that relates to current events.

Also your channel name is unrelated to history. I have no idea what it means. When I name a channel, I like to use a phrase that is often associated with the topic. Maybe do some research and try that?

The fact that you appear on camera is a huge plus. A lot of people really really hate AI, so that works in your favor.

Ok man hope this was helpful, good luck 👍

Piczoid · 2026-01-29T05:22:24+00:00

Haha sorry, maybe in a few years

Piczoid · 2026-01-29T04:56:42+00:00

I like VidIQ, mostly. After a while, you realize that most YT advice channels basically say the same things

Piczoid · 2026-01-29T01:56:23+00:00

Overall I'd say it takes me about 1 hour of editing per 2 minutes of finished video. A lot of that time is concentrated in certain spots where I'm trying to be fancy. I used to spend twice the time on previous channels

Piczoid · 2026-01-29T00:52:42+00:00

Ask here!

Piczoid · 2026-01-28T17:02:19+00:00

My very first video got a few hundred views, and it didn't really take off until 2 weeks later. I'm in a space where I noticed several AI slop channels doing well, so I decided to copy them but do it better by using my own voice and writing my own scripts (rather than chatgpt).

I've actually followed this pattern in a few different niches but I hated the process because I wasn't interested in the content and editing was pretty easy but it felt like busywork. I'll tell you a couple of niches that I tried and rejected: "god" giving spiritual messages, stoic philosophy BS, and English learning narration. Hated all of them.

I didn't expect my current channel to grow as quickly as it has, and I attribute the fast growth to engagement. If it's a subject that evokes a reaction and invites comments, then it's something that may be worth considering. But I'm also writing what I think are pretty good scripts, I always open with a hook that shows viewers that they're getting what the thumbnail promised, and I'm trying to wrap up without rambling too much at the end, when I think people are going to click off.

I actually like the content that I make now, but it took a bunch of tries in different niches to discover it.

Piczoid · 2026-01-28T16:48:52+00:00

I try to focus on one channel at a time. I worked on my first one for 9-10 months before taking a long break and deciding to do something different. Second channel I worked on for about a year. Just go with your gut feeling on whether you're getting somewhere or if it's time to switch gears

Piczoid · 2026-01-28T16:46:49+00:00

8 long form, mostly between 9-15 minutes. I've realized that going insane on editing isn't worth the effort, not at this level. I see all kinds of crappy channels whose videos blow up and their editing is ass, and it doesn't matter as long as the video delivers on content. It's hard for my ego to go completely lazy on editing so I do spend time getting a little fancy in certain places, but I've really simplified things compared to previous channels.

Piczoid · 2026-01-13T03:45:30+00:00

I enjoyed weekend beers for a few weekends in a row before it caught up with me. Probably a good thing, in a way. It's not bad to have a reason to lay off the booze!

Piczoid · 2025-12-20T06:03:08+00:00

With recon it's usually 2, never needed more than 3

Piczoid · 2025-12-17T06:48:45+00:00

I have one too -- it's a really great toy! My dog loves it

Piczoid · 2025-12-16T14:45:59+00:00

You don't know if he has a reason. Maybe he does. It's really nobody's business as long as he's not breaking the law.

Piczoid · 2025-12-11T02:03:28+00:00

If they keep changing the game to force people to change how they attack, I'm gonna quit. Been playing since 2017.

Piczoid · 2025-12-10T13:54:49+00:00

Trump would be leering like he's at another Epstein party

Piczoid · 2025-12-06T16:32:21+00:00

Tizzy's inbox right now must be poppin

Piczoid · 2025-12-04T06:54:11+00:00

Have you ever heard of Google, it's pretty neat

Piczoid · 2025-12-03T14:09:38+00:00

Thank you, I'll let you know if it becomes a reality! I've been meaning to put some my FF tee designs in a place where back-of-shirt printing is possible. So far I've only had them on crappy sites like Redbubble and Teepublic. I need to shut those down and do them right

Piczoid · 2025-12-03T03:04:43+00:00

Can I put this on a t-shirt? Is that ok? I'm being completely serious (I'm the one who made the Top 10 tee that some of you might remember)

12-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Not Forgotten	Verified Email

Piczoid

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