
Few YouTube creators have embraced LinkedIn. The overwhelming majority haven’t started profiles, shared their videos, or networked with anyone on the platform.

Why? It doesn’t feel like “the place to be” for video creators. People imagine office jobs and resumes when they think of LinkedIn.

They’re not entirely wrong because 9-to-5ers have always dominated the platform. But look closer. You’ll find that creators are making extra money when they network on LinkedIn.

, content creators use LinkedIn to get brand deals, podcast interviews, and speaking engagements.

“We forget that we’re humans talking to other humans across all platforms now, and we put up walls when we limit why a platform exists,” Fox says. “All of these platforms are tools.”

, Fox explains how to leverage LinkedIn for better opportunities. Professionals have done that for years, but these new tips are directed at YouTube creatives.

1. Turn on LinkedIn Creator Mode to Promote Your Content

Did you hear the news? LinkedIn is launching 

, a new profile type that offers content creation tools and advanced features. It’s rolling out slowly, so check your LinkedIn dashboard to see if you have access to creator mode.

Creator mode has several perks, including:

A follower count displayed on your profile

A section for displaying the topics you talk about on LinkedIn

The ability to be featured as a suggested creator

Turning on creator mode is step one when you join LinkedIn. You get to position yourself as an expert and get more eyeballs on your content, YouTube videos included.

LinkedIn is backing some creators financially

. In September 2021, the company launched a 

 to support creators and their businesses.

there’s never been a better time to share content on LinkedIn

2. Get Your Content Discovered with LinkedIn Articles and Newsletters

When you join LinkedIn, don’t just turn on creator mode and call it a day. Take advantage of its most important offering: 

For years, experts have written LinkedIn articles to build credibility and grow their audiences. But that was never enough on its own. Even the best articles underperform when they aren’t promoted to the right readers.

That’s why LinkedIn Newsletters are a game-changer. Imagine writing an article about something in your niche – how to sell fine art in 2022, for example. You could include a video from your YouTube channel to complement that information, which increases your views. Then you get to market the whole thing – the article 

 the video inside of it – in your LinkedIn newsletter.

“That is what Gary Vaynerchuk is doing,” Fox says. “He’s making a micro piece of content from an hour-long video on YouTube. He’s timestamping a few moments and making the video play in the LinkedIn article.”

This drives traffic to your YouTube channel and expands your LinkedIn network at the same time.

3. Use LinkedIn Audio Live to Connect with Brands

If you’re struggling to get brand deals on YouTube, LinkedIn is the place for you. Think of all the companies that have a presence there, such as Disney, Skillshare, and 

, and you’re bound to find corporate contacts from each company. That will probably happen via 

, a social audio platform that’s similar to Clubhouse.

, who tested the feature a few weeks ago. It’s still in beta, but anyone with creator mode enabled will get LinkedIn Audio Live eventually.

Fox says there are benefits to using social audio. For one, people feel comfortable working with someone they’ve already spoken to. This is especially true for marketers who want to work with influencers for a campaign. They get to hear voices in real-time and form better connections. 

Because of that, brand managers are eager to 

. Even if you're following up with a pitch email, your message is less likely to be ignored.

Getting a Brand Deal on YouTube - 10 Terrible Mistakes to Avoid

Of course, you have to be vocal in audio rooms to get those meetings.

“The best advice I can give anyone who’s thinking about LinkedIn or any social audio: Be the show,” Fox says. “Don't just go and think, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t use it. I’m not a consumer [of that]'. Stop thinking about what you would do and realize that there's a place for you to be a show on all these channels.”

LinkedIn is investing in the creator economy, but it’s not the only platform to look out for. 

Check out these 11 companies that match creators with lucrative brand deals.

LinkedIn is filled with opportunities, but many YouTube creators aren’t taking advantage. Here’s why you should network on LinkedIn, plus clear steps to boost your income as a creator.

How to Use LinkedIn to Boost Your YouTube Revenue

, and we can see why. For one, it’s a free, hands-off way of advertising your content to the right people. You know the algorithm will promote your best videos no matter what's happening on your channel.

But, seriously: What are YouTube recommendations based on? How do you get your YouTube videos seen by thousands of people on the platform?

A model that chooses videos for the YouTube homepage

A model that recommends what you should watch next

, explains why YouTube recommends some videos over others. Some people think the secret is high video resolution, subscribers, and other 

As it turns out, there are no “lucky” videos. When YouTube recommends something, that means the video performs well in six areas.

Has YouTube ever asked you to complete a survey after watching a video? Most likely, your audience saw a similar notification for your content. If they chose to participate, they answered one question for YouTube’s algorithm: “What did you think of this video?” Below that prompt was a section to rate the video and describe it with words like “enjoyable” or “life-changing.”

“We serve out millions of surveys per month to viewers,” says YouTube product manager Rachel Alves in a Creator Insider 

. “Now, they’re not served on every single video…. But we use this data to train prediction models to identify which videos are highly satisfying.”

Gielen adds another point: The more “niche” your community is, the more it engages with your content universe. So while some people ignore surveys, an engaged audience could respond with higher satisfaction.

Most aren’t aware, but a large number of likes will influence YouTube’s recommendation system. It starts to think, 

People are enjoying this video, and I should share it with more viewers. 

Or at least, that’s what I imagine a super-smart algorithm to sound like.

Average view duration (AVD) is how long most viewers watch a video, whether that’s two minutes or a whopping 25. The algorithm loves this metric, but it’s not easy to master. Few people have the attention span (or the time) to watch video content from start to finish.

How to Increase Audience Retention on Every YouTube Video

That’s why higher AVDs appeal to the algorithm. The 

 means thousands of people were willing to explore a video deeply.

“The vast majority of viewership on YouTube is passive – it’s not engaging, it’s not commenting, it’s not liking [videos],” Gielen says. “And so a great indication of someone being satisfied is that they watched the video [for a long time].”

Not all Watch Time is equal, though. Some people watch an entire video and leave feeling dissatisfied, so context matters. Even if a video has a high AVD, it doesn’t mean it will become a popular YouTube suggestion by that standard only.

You’ve heard the common outro for most videos: “Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe to my YouTube channel!” This call to action comes after a tutorial video, product review, explainer video, reaction video, or prank of some kind.

But something is missing from that script. Few people realize that 

 is one way to get your video recommended on YouTube.

Why? Video shares are a sign you've satisfied hundreds of viewers. That metric tells the algorithm that your video is enjoyable and worth suggesting to more people.

Click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of viewers who click on a video after seeing its thumbnail. For example, if you have a 10% CTR, that means 10% of people who saw your video decided to click on it. The official formula for CTR is number of clicks / number of impressions x 100 = CTR.

Getting a Good Click-Through Rate on YouTube - 6 Powerful Tips

“When videos are recommended to viewers, what do they do with [them]?” Alves says in a Creator Insider 

. “Do they click to watch, do they click 

, do they ignore it and watch something else?”

The algorithm treats CTR like a performance metric. If a video has many 

, it might become a YouTube video suggestion.

Collaborative filtering sounds like some complicated feature of the algorithm, but it’s pretty simple. All it means is that hypothetically, some viewers have so much in common that they’ll enjoy the same videos. To prove this theory, YouTube recommends videos to like-minded viewers until the content starts to underperform.

Gielen explains the YouTube recommendation algorithm like this: “If person A likes something, and person B and person C are similar to person A based on their past actions, [YouTube serves] the video to person B and C.”

Think of collaborative filtering like a virus.

 Every time someone enjoys your content, YouTube recommends it to someone who might feel the same way. The more people you satisfy, the more YouTube recommends your video. 

The algorithm sends your content through this chain of “similar viewers” until the original prediction (that people will enjoy your video) is no longer valid. That's the power of machine learning.

What Matters Most to the YouTube Algorithm

 there’s no such thing as a YouTube algorithm hack.

 If your views skyrocket overnight, it’s not because you learned how to beat the YouTube algorithm.

Instead, you’re getting better at two things:

Understanding which videos your audience likes

Creating videos that satisfy your viewers

More than anything, a satisfied viewer is what creates a YouTube algorithm boost.

Want more tips on how to get recommended on YouTube? Here’s a longer post to help you understand the YouTube algorithm.

Smiling man with Tube Talk logo, video podcast branding on black background

Are you confused by the YouTube algorithm? Keep reading to discover six positive metrics that lead to more video suggestions on YouTube.

What the YouTube Algorithm Likes to See on Creators' Videos


There’s never been a better time to join the creator economy – especially for YouTubers. If you’re making decent money from your channel, 

imagine how your income will balloon after joining more platforms

. Posting videos on additional sites (Instagram, TikTok, Patreon, etc.) creates more cash through bread deals, donations, and subscriptions.

Is Your YouTube Channel on Track to Become a Business? Here are 5 Positive Signs

Those are common ways to make money, but maybe not the best. The creator economy rewards awesome content 

“I believe one of the opportunities creators should think about is not relying 100% on their income from just a YouTube channel or Instagram account or TikTok, but to create an ecosystem and companies around their social media,” says Vira Slyvinska, head of global business development at 

It sounds like a lot of work, but it doesn’t have to be. You already have the most important asset: dozens of YouTube videos to repurpose and remonetize across the web.

. Her advice comes from years of experience at Air Media-Tech helping creators monetize their popularity.

Ready to create an ecosystem for your content? Here are three ways to repurpose YouTube videos for extra cash.

1. Build a Mobile Streaming App for Loyal Subscribers

Imagine what would happen if, one day, your YouTube revenue dropped 50%. You would be out of luck (and upset) if YouTube was your only source of income.

But that’s a preventable problem. Building a streaming app is the perfect way to control your assets, from repurposing new videos to remonetizing old content.

, you can launch an app that houses exclusive content or videos from your YouTube channel. You decide how to monetize the app by charging a one-time fee, displaying ads, or offering in-app purchases. Best of all, Appy Pie is a drag-and-drop app builder that requires 

? He has nearly 4 million subscribers on YouTube and created a fitness app, Heria Pro, to expand his business. It offers workout plans, a goal tracker, Heria’s YouTube videos, and more. The app is free to download but has in-app purchases to diversify his income.

Technically, you don’t have to leave YouTube to start a subscription service. The platform already offers this with 

, which require more than 1,000 subscribers to unlock.

Still, all of your income shouldn’t flow from YouTube. That’s risky when you’re building a content ecosystem that will 

Your best bet is building a website to house your entire brand: the courses you offer, the products you sell, and any 

 you provide. Depending on your expertise, creating a subscription service that costs up to $25/month is a great income booster.

Of course, this is another opportunity to 

One example we love sharing is how co-hosts Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti monetize their 

. The visual episodes appear on YouTube, but the editors cut several scenes for brevity. If viewers want to see the uncut version of the show, Ball and Enjeti offer a paid membership for super fans.

Podcasting on YouTube - 7 Tips to Get Subscribers on a Paid Membership

3. Consider NFTs, But Proceed With Caution

NFTs (non-fungible tokens) use the same blockchain technology that birthed cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin. However, NFTs are not a form of currency; they’re digital assets existing on a blockchain. For now, it seems people are most excited to buy digital art NFTs.

However, Slyvinska says NFTs might not be the best long-term investment. Prices are speculative due to bidding, and there’s no guarantee you’ll make money selling one. But as always, a supportive audience and good marketing improve your chances.

But how do video creators make money from NFTs? Well, last year, rapper Latashá made thousands of dollars 

Now imagine releasing a YouTube video with a “deleted” scene. 

Would your audience buy that missing piece of content as an NFT?

 That’s one idea to jumpstart your NFT project and repurpose YouTube content.

When you’re ready, visit these creator-friendly platforms to sell NFTs:

And while you’re at it, look to the metaverse for opportunities. Experts predict 

you’ll need cryptocurrency to shop in this virtual marketplace

, so it can’t hurt to explore the possibilities for video creators.

The examples above are not-so-common ways of boosting YouTube income. 

Want to keep things traditional? Start here with 10 tips for landing YouTube brand deals.

Smiling woman with short hair alongside colorful Tube Talk logo on dark background

Have you done all you can on YouTube? It's time to repurpose your videos to make more money via mobile apps, subscriptions, and even NFTs.

Creator Economy Cash: 3 Unique Ways to Repurpose YouTube Content


What’s your ultimate YouTube wish for 2022? For the aspiring entrepreneurs out there, we have a pretty good hunch. 

Eventually go full-time and start a business

Want to Make YouTube Your Full-Time Job? Master These 5 Skills

, we interview a tech creator who reached that milestone: Jacklyn Dallas of 

 (NBT). In seven years of filming, her channel has amassed 166,000 subscribers. That’s an important figure to note because most people think you need a million to be successful.

Of course, Jacklyn reveals the truth about 

: Creators need a mix of problem solving, community building, and innovative thinking – not just subscribers.

Your channel can become so much more than an entertainment hub. While no viewer thinks, 

, most people appreciate anything that helps them succeed in life. Take a look at the last 10 videos on your channel. Do they solve a concrete problem millions of people share? That’s the first sign your YouTube channel can support a larger business.

 because she was already solving tech problems. She had an audience of one at the time: her grandmother. But after Jacklyn recorded several videos to help her out – tutorials on resetting an email password or downloading an ebook – she knew she had something special.

“I would just send a 30-second video, and she found that really helpful,” Jacklyn says. “And I kind of thought, ‘I like explaining tech stuff. I may as well post it on YouTube.’”

Now that Jacklyn is a full-time YouTuber, one thing is clear: Coming up with solutions is the crux of any successful business, online or not.

2. You’re Making Enough Money to Justify the Effort

Starting any business (and growing it) depends on your ability to make money. YouTube is no different, and you need a justifiable income to manage a channel full-time. Otherwise, you could run out of money and end up quitting before you’ve started.

7 Lucrative Ways to Make Money Beyond YouTube

Are you ready for that challenge? If you have multiple streams of income that cover your lifestyle, we’d say you are.

3. You’re Willing to Invest Heavily in Your YouTube Channel

Most creators invest in their channels by making one-off purchases. They’ll buy a 

 or an external microphone to get crisp audio. But chances are, you’re past that stage if you’re thinking of starting a business. You exit the “basic upgrade” phase and enter the “long-term investment” phase.

invest 90% of YouTube revenue back into the channel

 rather than spend it. That’s what a thriving startup would do. In fact, that’s what 

“I don’t think people think of it as a company…. When you see insane numbers like, MrBeast makes 'X' amount, it’s like, no," Jacklyn says. Jimmy doesn’t make 'X' amount, the overall structure makes that amount, and then that goes to salaries and videos and things like that.”

Jacklyn follows this principle, too. She didn’t take a salary for years so she could invest in things like:

A camera that meets the quality standards for a tech channel

4. You Push the Boundaries of What’s Possible on YouTube

We mentioned the power of income diversification above. Well, this tip goes hand-in-hand with that philosophy. Sometimes it’s not enough to collect money from different sources and call it a day. 

The best businesses are innovative and take calculated risks.

 Look at Jeff Bezos, Amazon, and the race to space that spawned Blue Origin. Think of Elon Musk’s company SpaceX and its mission to design and launch rockets into space. 

Some might argue we have bigger problems to solve here on Earth, but innovation clearly drives wealth.

Embrace the same mindset when growing your channel. You don’t have to follow the monetization template YouTube created. Do something bold.

6 Signs It's Time to Make YouTube Your Full-Time Job

Jacklyn took this to heart when she partnered with Dive Tap, a company that creates info-sharing cards that activate when you tap them against a phone. It allows people to share contacts, files, links, and more.

Jacklyn pitched the idea of an NBT x Dive Tap collab, which included:

Custom card designs her audience would resonate with

A way to switch out the links on every card

“I want to always be pushing the boundaries a little bit,” Jacklyn says. “No tech creator had launched a tech product yet. I was like, ‘This is the perfect opportunity. Why not make it? Why not try to do this?’”

5. You’ve Built a YouTube Community That Trusts You

Having a strong YouTube community means your channel is on track to become a business. To be clear, this isn’t about how many subscribers you’ve gained. It's not even about the followers you’ve amassed on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Discord. This is about connection and engagement.

We’ve seen creators under 100,000 subscribers, such as social media expert Desiree Martinez, 

. While they don’t have the largest audience, they do have engaged followers who support them monetarily.

Turning your channel into a business is no joke, so if you’re ready to earn more, give YouTube brand deals a shot. Here are 10 pitching secrets to help you land one.

Young woman smiling with Tube Talk logo on gradient dark background, video podcast concept

If growing a YouTube channel feels hard, turning one into a business must seem impossible. Still, you may be further ahead than you think.

Choosing the right niche is everything. vidIQ gives you the data to find one that grows.

Choosing a YouTube niche is a big decision. Viewers look at the overall theme of your channel and ask one question: 

But that’s just one end of the spectrum; after that, you have to think about 

. It will analyze your channel’s genre and attempt to serve your videos to people with similar interests. If your content is all over the place, you might get fewer recommendations than someone with a focused channel.

 about how to choose a niche for YouTube. On his channel, Jeff transitioned from general tech videos to reviewing personal audio, such as earbuds, headphones, and speakers. That strategy was a huge success, and now Jeff has more than 80,000 subscribers.

A creator's niche refers to the genre or subgenre they explore in their content.

There are many types of niches on YouTube:

Ready to find the right niche for you? Here are five ways to pick a topic that speaks to you creatively and grows your channel.

On YouTube, the more specific your content is, the better.

Let’s say you plan to launch a comedy channel. That's a tricky task because while everyone loves to laugh, people are amused by different things. So it's not enough tell jokes or create skits that appeal to a broad audience. You need to reach your ideal viewer by niching down to specific moments that 

 be funny: being the new employee, leash-training a hyper dog, working in customer service, etc.

El Jefe Reviews takes this concept to the next level. He has a niche within a niche 

 a niche. There are three levels to his content that get narrower the closer you look.

A tech channel that reviews personal audio.

A tech channel that reviews personal audio, specifically wireless earbuds, headphones, and speakers.

“I thought general tech was the way to go until somebody sort of educated me and let me know, like, ‘Hey, that isn’t it. You need to laser-focus on a niche, and if you can find a niche within that niche, then that’s really going to be where you find your people,” Jeff says.

To find a focused niche, ask yourself two questions:

Does my niche have an interesting subgenre?

Is there an underserved subgenre I could make content for?

2. Choose a Niche That Gives You the Most YouTube Views

Why does El Jefe Reviews focus on personal audio instead of general tech? It’s simple: One topic got more views than the other. 

More importantly, Jeff didn't dismiss that phenomenon as fluke. 

 and realized his audience was interested in personal audio, not general tech.

“When I did my first headphone video, it outperformed my other content,” Jeff says. “I was lucky to get 50 or 60 views on a video before that, but this headphone video was pushing 300, 400, 500 views. Maybe two videos later, I did a video on a set of earbuds that had just been released. That video ended up pushing 1,000 in the first week…. I noticed a pattern there.”

The moral of the story? Don’t be afraid to experiment. It's OK to make a bunch of different videos and see what works best.

Quantity Over Quality - The One Thing New YouTubers Should Focus On

3. Check Out the Competition for Your Niche

Choosing a niche isn't as easy as picking up a weekend hobby. What if millions of other creators are getting billions of views for the same topic? You'll be starting from zero, which makes it hard to stand out on YouTube.

Now you have a tough decision to make. Do you fight your way through the crowd or choose a niche with less competition?

We’re not saying the first option is impossible. But it’s easier to 

 when you choose the road less traveled. 

A small creator should never try to compete (at least not directly) with an influencer pushing 1 million subscribers. Making videos about topics your competitors 

“There weren’t that many [channels doing personal audio] when I was doing it at first,” Jeff says about his own competitors. “At the time, there were maybe three or four of us back in 2017, 2018. Now there are 40 or 50.”

The best niche for you is one you’re passionate about and builds a following on YouTube. Here are some tips to find your channel’s focus once and for all.

How to Choose the Best Niche for Your YouTube Channel

vidIQ's keyword research and AI Coach show which niches have demand and low competition.

Lydia Sweatt

Posts Written By Lydia Sweatt

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Want to Make YouTube Your Full-Time Job? Master These 5 Skills