MrBeast Shares His Best YouTube Advice

Summary

In this insightful video, MrBeast shares his top YouTube strategies, emphasizing that initial views and subscribers are less important than consistent, high-quality content creation. He advises creators to make and learn from hundreds of videos, improve with each upload, and focus on captivating titles and thumbnails. MrBeast also discusses the importance of understanding the YouTube algorithm as a reflection of audience preferences, and stresses the value of a strong start to hook viewers, ultimately leading to viral success without the need for excessive spending.

Takeaways

• 🚀 **Start Uploading Early**: Don't wait for perfection; start creating and uploading videos to gain experience and improve over time.
• 🔍 **Quality Over Quantity**: Focus on making each video the best it can be rather than just posting many average videos to meet a schedule.
• 🤔 **Learn Continuously**: Constantly learn and improve your video-making skills, including scripting, editing, and understanding your audience.
• 🎯 **Understand the Algorithm**: Recognize that the YouTube algorithm is essentially a reflection of audience preferences; create content that people want to watch.
• 🏷 **Create Compelling Titles**: Use titles that are interesting and intrinsically motivate viewers to click, ensuring they represent the content well.
• 📸 **Optimize Thumbnails**: Design thumbnails that quickly convey the essence of the video and evoke curiosity or emotion in viewers.
• 📹 **Capture Attention in the First Seconds**: The first five seconds of a video are crucial for hooking viewers and ensuring they click and watch.
• 📉 **Minimize Dropout**: Match and exceed viewer expectations from the start to keep them engaged and reduce the number of viewers who click away.
• 🔁 **Iterate and Improve**: Regularly revisit and refine older videos, including updating thumbnails, to improve performance and engagement.
• 🌐 **YouTube's Future Impact**: Recognize the growing influence of YouTube and the potential for creators to shape culture and build significant influence.
• 💪 **Dedication and Sacrifice**: Success on YouTube requires intense dedication and hard work, often at the expense of work-life balance and personal well-being.

Q & A

What is MrBeast's advice for new YouTubers regarding their initial video performance?

MrBeast advises that new YouTubers should not expect their first videos to get many views, and instead of overthinking, they should focus on uploading content consistently and improving with each video.

According to MrBeast, what is the key to growing a YouTube channel?

The key to growing a YouTube channel, as stated by MrBeast, is to create the best possible videos and thumbnails, focusing on quality over quantity, and continuously improving with each upload.

How does MrBeast suggest improving video content over time?

MrBeast suggests improving video content by making incremental improvements with each video, such as refining the script, learning new editing tricks, enhancing voice inflections, and experimenting with thumbnails and titles.

What does MrBeast believe is the biggest takeaway for new YouTubers?

The biggest takeaway for new YouTubers, according to MrBeast, is to realize that their initial videos may not be as good as they think and to focus on learning how to make great videos that people actually want to watch.

How does MrBeast view the role of the YouTube algorithm in video success?

MrBeast views the YouTube algorithm as a reflection of audience preferences. He suggests that understanding the algorithm is essentially understanding human psychology and what content people want to watch.

What is MrBeast's opinion on the importance of the first 10 seconds of a video?

MrBeast believes that the first 10 seconds of a video are extremely important as they set the stage for audience retention. He suggests that these initial moments should be engaging enough to hook viewers and keep them watching.

What advice does MrBeast give for creating effective video titles?

MrBeast advises that effective video titles should be short, simple, and extremely interesting to compel viewers to click. The title should represent the content and be a good segue into what the video is about.

How does MrBeast approach the creation of thumbnails for his videos?

MrBeast approaches thumbnail creation by aiming to make them simple, understandable, and emotionally compelling. He wants viewers to feel a sense of curiosity or emotion that makes them want to click on the video.

What does MrBeast suggest for maintaining viewer interest throughout a video?

MrBeast suggests maintaining viewer interest by ensuring the video stays on topic, providing a payoff, and exceeding viewer expectations. He also emphasizes the importance of good pacing and removing dull moments.

How does MrBeast feel about the potential of YouTube as a platform in the future?

MrBeast believes that in 10 years, YouTube will be bigger than television ever was for American culture. He sees it as an underestimated platform with immense potential for influence and value.

What is MrBeast's perspective on work-life balance for content creators?

MrBeast acknowledges the importance of work-life balance but admits that he personally does not have one, devoting nearly all his time to creating content. He warns against this approach and advises others to maintain a healthier balance.

Outlines

00:00

📈 Growth Hacking on YouTube

In this segment, MrBeast discusses strategies for rapidly growing a YouTube channel. He emphasizes that initial views and subscribers are not indicative of success and encourages creators to focus on producing high-quality content consistently. MrBeast suggests that creators should not be discouraged by the lack of immediate success and should instead concentrate on improving their craft with every video. He also highlights the importance of understanding audience preferences and the psychology behind what makes people click and watch videos. The segment includes tips on creating compelling titles and thumbnails to attract viewers, as well as the significance of the first few seconds of a video in hooking the audience.

05:01

🔥 The Power of Bold Content on YouTube

This paragraph delves into the effectiveness of creating bold and extreme content to capture viewers' attention on YouTube. MrBeast explains how more extreme opinions or claims in video titles can lead to higher click-through rates, provided that the content delivers on the promises made. The conversation also touches on the importance of the first five seconds of a video, especially in the context of YouTube's autoplay feature, and how captions and visual cues can contribute to initial viewer engagement. The emphasis is on the need for creators to exceed viewer expectations right from the start to minimize drop-off rates and retain audience interest throughout the video.

10:01

🚀 Scaling YouTube Success Through Quality and Strategy

MrBeast shares his insights on the importance of content quality over quantity for growing a YouTube channel. He argues that it's more beneficial to create fewer, exceptional videos that can go viral and attract viewers than to post many average videos. The paragraph also addresses the misconception that money is required for virality, with MrBeast citing examples of his own successful videos that cost little to produce. He stresses the value of continuous learning and improvement, as well as the potential long-term benefits of being a top creator on such a significant platform. Additionally, he warns against the trap of maintaining a strict upload schedule at the expense of video quality.

15:03

🛠️ Refining Thumbnails and the Vision for YouTube's Future

In the final paragraph, MrBeast discusses the art of creating effective thumbnails that quickly convey the essence of a video and elicit an emotional response from viewers. He talks about the evolution of his own skills in thumbnail design and the practice of revisiting and improving older thumbnails to boost performance. The segment concludes with MrBeast's bold prediction about the future of YouTube, foreseeing it surpassing television in cultural impact. He also reflects on the unique opportunity YouTube provides for creators to have direct influence over their audience and build significant personal brands or initiatives.

Keywords

💡Subscribers

In the context of YouTube, 'subscribers' refers to the individuals who have chosen to follow a channel to receive notifications when new content is posted. The video emphasizes that while subscribers are important, they are not the sole measure of success. MrBeast suggests that focusing on creating high-quality content is more crucial than the number of subscribers, as it is the content that will attract and retain viewership.

💡Views

'Views' represent the number of times a video has been watched on YouTube. The video script mentions that although views are significant, they should not be the primary focus. Instead, MrBeast advises creators to concentrate on the quality of their videos, implying that better videos naturally garner more views over time.

💡Content Creation

Content creation is the process of producing material for audiences to consume, such as videos, articles, or social media posts. The video script highlights the importance of content creation by emphasizing that making the best videos possible is the key to success on YouTube. MrBeast shares his insights on how to improve content with each video uploaded.

💡Algorithm

The 'algorithm' on YouTube refers to the system that suggests videos to users based on their viewing habits and preferences. In the script, MrBeast explains that understanding the algorithm is essentially about understanding human psychology and audience preferences. He suggests that creators should focus on making videos that people want to watch, which will naturally lead to the algorithm promoting their content.

💡Thumbnail

A 'thumbnail' is the small visual representation of a video that appears on YouTube and attracts viewers to click and watch. MrBeast discusses the importance of creating effective thumbnails that convey the essence of the video and incite curiosity. He also mentions that improving thumbnail design over time can boost video performance.

💡Quality

In the context of the video, 'quality' pertains to the production value, storytelling, and overall appeal of a video. MrBeast stresses that focusing on quality over quantity is more beneficial for long-term growth. He suggests that creators should strive to make each video better than the last, which will naturally lead to increased views and subscribers.

💡Engagement

'Engagement' refers to the interaction between the content and the audience, such as likes, comments, and shares. The video script implies that creating engaging content is essential for retaining viewers and encouraging them to interact with the video, which in turn can boost the video's visibility on the platform.

💡Growth

'Growth' in the video script signifies the increase in views, subscribers, and overall channel development. MrBeast shares his advice on how to achieve growth by consistently improving video content and understanding what the audience wants to see.

💡Influence

Influence, as discussed in the script, is the power that top YouTube channels have over their audience and the potential to impact culture. MrBeast talks about the significant influence creators can have and how they can leverage this to build businesses or initiate philanthropic efforts.

💡Perfection

The concept of 'perfection' in the video script is used to convey that there is no such thing as a perfect video. MrBeast encourages creators to continually strive for improvement, suggesting that the pursuit of perfection is an ongoing process that involves learning from each video and applying that knowledge to the next.

💡Personality

'Personality' in the context of the video refers to the unique characteristics and traits that a creator brings to their content. MrBeast mentions that some creators, like Emma Chamberlain, have strong personalities that can attract viewers and contribute to their rapid growth on the platform.

Highlights

Achieving 10 million subscribers within six months is possible with the right knowledge and strategy.

Initial videos are unlikely to garner many views, emphasizing the importance of persistence in content creation.

Subscriber and view counts are important but should not be the sole focus; content quality is paramount.

Creators should actively produce content rather than overthinking, learning through the process of creation.

MrBeast shares his secrets to YouTube success, including effective titles and thumbnails.

It's more efficient to achieve a high number of views on a single video rather than spreading efforts across many.

MrBeast emphasizes the importance of continuous improvement in video creation to capture viewers' interest.

A creator's ego can be beneficial for confidence, but it's crucial to recognize and improve upon the quality of one's videos.

The journey to creating great content is likened to professional sports, requiring time and consistent effort.

Creators should aim to make 100 videos, improving with each one, before expecting significant viewership.

MrBeast suggests specific ways to improve videos, such as enhancing scripts, editing, voice inflections, and thumbnails.

Understanding the YouTube algorithm is akin to understanding audience preferences and human psychology.

The importance of creating compelling titles that are interesting and represent the video content was discussed.

The impact of video length on viewer expectations and click-through rates was highlighted.

MrBeast explains the significance of the first five seconds of a video in capturing viewer attention in the age of autoplay.

The role of captions and the importance of the initial moments of a video to set the right expectations were underscored.

The value of audience retention and the strategy of matching and exceeding viewer expectations from the start of a video.

MrBeast's perspective on the power of knowledge in growing a YouTube channel and the potential for anyone to achieve success.

The importance of not just creating content, but creating high-quality content that stands out and resonates with viewers.

The significance of reevaluating and improving older content, including thumbnails, to increase engagement over time.

MrBeast's outlook on the future of YouTube and the unparalleled influence and opportunities it presents for creators.

The unique position of top YouTube creators and the unparalleled control and impact they can have over their content and audience.

MrBeast's dedication to his craft and the intense work ethic required to maintain his success on the platform.

Transcripts

- If you knew what I knew,

you could get 10 million subscribers within six months.

Your first video is not gonna get views.

Subscribers don't matter, views don't matter.

I mean, they do.

So stop sitting there and thinking

for months and months on end

and just get to work and start uploading.

Everything you...

(beeping)

Want as a creator

comes from making the best videos possible and thumbnails.

- [Narrator] MrBeast shares his best YouTube advice

all the way from title and thumbnail secrets

to growing a channel on YouTube.

- It's much easier to get five million views on one video

than 50,000 views on 100 videos.

- [Narrator] He also reveals how he's able

to hook in viewers in his videos

and what he would do if he started over from scratch.

- What advice would you give yourself

when you were starting out?

- Your videos suck.

You think your videos are good, but they suck.

They just do.

And the sooner you learn how to make good, great videos

that people actually wanna watch,

the sooner you'll get views

I think it's the biggest takeaway

'cause like when I was 14,

I thought my videos were the best in the world.

They weren't, they were terrible.

Many people are making way better videos than me,

but I didn't think that.

And I think, you know, to be successful,

you kind of have to have a little bit of that ego

where you're like, you know, my content's great.

You gotta believe in it,

but also like if you have sub 1,000 subscribers,

like there's a good probability your videos just suck.

They just do, and you need to make hundreds of videos

or 100 videos, I don't know.

It depends on the difficulty of videos.

Improve something every time

and just like get to the point where they don't.

When you make good content, you'll blow up.

It's not the algorithm, it's not anything,

it's just like most,

me and most people who are in my position,

you just make terrible videos and that's okay

because you've gotta make a bunch of videos

and improve over time to be great.

Like you don't just pick up a baseball

and become an MLB level athlete within a year.

It takes many, many, many years

and YouTube's kind of the same way.

A lot of people get analysis paralysis

and they'll just sit there

and they'll plan their first video for three months.

Any of you listening,

especially if you have zero videos on your channel,

your first video is not gonna give views, period.

It's not, your first 10 are not gonna get views.

I can very confidently say that.

So stop sitting there and thinking

for months and months on end and just get to work

and start uploading.

Like all you need to do,

and this applies to people who have not uploaded videos

but have dreams of being a YouTuber,

is make 100 videos and improve something every time.

Do that, and then on your 101st video, we'll start talking,

like maybe you can get some views, but, you know,

your first 100 are gonna suck.

There are very freak cases like

(MrBeast mumbling)

or Emma Chamberlain who have really good personalities

and it doesn't take them some,

as many videos and it's just like people

who are seven foot five and making in the NBA.

Like yes, there are freak cases you can find,

but for the average person like us, you know,

who don't have these exceptional personalities and you know,

backgrounds in filmmaking, just make 100 videos.

Improve something each time.

And then talk to me on your 101st video.

- How do you improve something each time?

- The second one just,

I don't know, put more effort into the script.

The third one, try to learn a new editing trick.

The fourth one, try to figure out a way

that you can have better inflections in your voice.

The fifth one, try to, you know,

study a new thumbnail tip and implement it.

The sixth one, try to figure out a new title.

There's infinite ways.

That's the beauty of content creation online.

There's literally infinite ways

from the coloring, to the frame rate, to the editing,

to the filming, to the production, to the jokes,

to the pacing to,

every little thing can be improved

and they can never not be improved.

There's no, there's literally no such thing

as a perfect video.

What YouTube wants is they want people to click on a video

and they wanna watch it.

Like at its core that's what it is.

Now you can like draw little lines

and go as deep as you want

and to how to get people to click

and how to get people to watch.

I mean essentially by studying the algorithm

you'll learn that you're more studying human psychology,

right?

What do humans wanna watch?

Anytime you say the word algorithm,

just replace it with audience and it works perfectly.

Like the algorithm didn't like that video?

No, the audience didn't like that video.

Literally that's it.

If people are clicking and watching

then it gets promoted more.

And that's literally all the algorithm does

is reflect what the people want.

To a T.

And if you deny that you just make terrible videos

and are trying to find a scapegoat,

- What makes for a good title? Short?

- Not just short, it's also if someone reads it,

are they like, do they have to watch it?

Is it just so intrinsically interesting

that it's just gonna quit them?

If they don't click on it, you know what I mean?

Ideally, it's a title also that you know,

'cause the titles don't live in a vacuum, right?

So it has to lead into the content.

So ideally the title represents content

that you would wanna watch for 20 minutes.

So if it's a 20 minute video

and the title is I stepped on a bug,

the click-through rate is gonna be much lower.

And then if it was like a five second video,

like even nuances of the length of the video

based against the title will affect

whether people want to click it,

'cause sometimes they just don't add up.

I mean it's that, yes,

ideally you want it below 50 characters

because above 50 characters on certain devices

you run the chance of it going dot, dot, dot.

So like I took a light pole

and I saw how many dollar bills I could stack on top

and they would just go dot, dot, dot,

'cause it's too long and it can't finish it.

And that's the worst thing

because then people don't even know

what they're clicking on.

And so it's gonna do even worse.

Short, simple ideally

and just so freaking interesting to have to click.

And it is a good segue into the content

and it represents the length of the content.

The more extreme the opinion,

typically the higher the click through rate.

If you can like pay it off in the content,

then it just supercharges it, so like...

- Oh so, you have a kind of estimate of the extreme.

- Yeah, like this just for water, right?

You're like Fiji water sucks. Yeah that'd do fine.

But if you said Fiji water

is the worst water I've ever drank in my life.

- [Interviewer] Yeah.

- Way more extreme opinion, would do way better.

- [Interviewer] But you have to deliver.

- Yeah but then you have to deliver

'cause the more extreme you are,

the more extreme you have to be in the video.

- I heard you guys talking about auto play on YouTube.

- [MrBeast] Yes.

- And I've never considered it.

I've always thought about the thumbnail,

but now on YouTube, videos automatically play.

- Of course, so before you do, you film a video,

what is the thumbnail, what is the video?

And then what's the first five seconds

and then what's the first 30 seconds?

You know, by the first five seconds it's like,

goes with the thumbnail.

- Because it's possible that people open YouTube

and they don't...

- They don't see it,

especially for us because like for so many people,

I've watched hundreds of our videos

when I upload I am first on your homepage.

So like you just literally don't even see the thumbnail

'cause it auto play so quickly.

So like the thumbnail is irrelevant.

I have to like visually convince you to click on the video.

- Wow, that's so interesting.

- Yeah, that's why we go so hardcore.

- Dude, that's so crazy.

So do you consider also captions

in those first five seconds?

'Cause of course people aren't...

- Of course yeah, everything.

Everything. Yes. 100%.

- Wow, so those first five seconds,

that hook is now even more important

than it ever used to be.

- Oh of, 100%.

Yeah, before it was important

because you had to convince people to watch.

- [Interviewer] Yeah.

- Now you have to convince people to click

and watch at the same time.

- Whoa.

- [MrBeast] With the first five seconds.

- That's driving CTR now too.

- It is, 100%.

I roast a lot of people

who like have boring first five seconds, it's brutal.

Your title and thumbnail set expectations

and at the very beginning of the video to minimize dropoff,

you want to assure them

that those expectations are being met.

If you click on a video where you know of his,

where it's like Tether is a scam

and then at the very beginning

he starts talking about literally anything else,

then you are like, oh this is bull,

this isn't what I clicked on.

But if at the very start of the video you go,

Tether is a scam and I'm gonna teach you why,

then it's like okay, you match the expectations.

So at the very beginning match the expectations

and then you wanna exceed them.

So you wanna assure people that what they clicked on

is what they're getting

and then blow their mind and be like,

but you're also getting even more.

That's how you lower drop off.

Which a lot of people, sometimes it takes them

like 20 seconds to really meet the expectations

and so you lose,

like that's where you're gonna lose everyone.

Everyone's video start like this and then it levels off.

So you wanna reduce the amount of people

that click off on the audience retention graph.

I hope you're popping up graphs while I'm saying this.

So it's easier for people to visualize.

We really should drill this home

because like the number one thing is

like retaining as many people as possible at the start.

'Cause like envision a chart

where you lose 35% of your viewers in the first 30 seconds

and then envision one where you only lose 20%,

that's 15% more people that are watching you know,

throughout the video than not.

And it's not like you made the whole video

like a bunch better.

You just had a more strategic intro that hooked them.

I'm showing to put this into words

and like to really impose how important that is.

But like that 15% difference in viewership

really does make the difference

between hypothetically like 2 million views on a video

and like 10 in my head,

the thing people undervalue the most

is literally the first 10 seconds of the video, like.

- [Interviewer] Yeah.

- I can almost, I think I can quote it,

I tied up an FBI agent

and I have 100 thousand dollars of this bag.

Here's a knife, good luck. And I just run away.

- [Interviewer] Yeah.

- Like it gives you everything you need.

- [Interviewer] Yeah.

- No wasted words. Short, concise, and then tension.

You basically wanna remove every dull moment.

You probably want to find

the 10 most critical people you know,

make them watch the video and just roast it.

You know, certain things like,

if I just talk to a camera for 10 seconds without a cut,

like a lot of people will just like get bored

or they'll lose interest.

So like having a B cam and a C cam and just,

you can just talk for 10 seconds

but three seconds in cutting to a B cam and then a C cam,

like now it's more interesting

even though it's essentially the same thing

and not that crazy.

But you wanna have good pacing,

typically having a payoff at the end, keep some, right?

Last to leave the circle wins 10 grand.

If there is a low moment halfway through

you're gonna watch to the end

'cause you wanna see who wins the 10 grand.

So having a good payoff at the end.

- [Interviewer] How do you keep viewers watching

and you know, happy with the video?

- I would say just give them why they clicked.

Tell them why they should watch

and then just stick on topic.

Like that right there isn't even super complex

but I would already put you in the upper echelon of YouTube.

Like it's hard for a lot of people,

people for whatever reason, like they just drag it out.

A lot of log channels do it.

It's like eating 100 dollars ice cream

and they'll be like,

I'm going to eat 100 dollars ice cream

but first and then it's like earlier in the day

and it's just stuff that has nothing to do

with what you clicked on.

It's like them birthday shopping for their mom

and it's like that's not why I came here.

- Now if you're looking to grow your YouTube channel,

I gotta tell you about this

before we get into the rest of MrBeast's genius advice

and that is that we at Think Media are doing

a free YouTube challenge to help you grow

your first 1000 subscribers on YouTube

or make your first $1,000 on YouTube.

To sign up for free,

all you have to do is go to Tube1KChallenge.com

or check out the link down in our description

during this free challenge,

Sean Cannell, the founder of Think Media,

is gonna be showing you guys

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So click on the link to sign up today

or to check out when our next challenge is gonna be.

Okay, let's get back into the video.

- What's interesting is the longer people watch something,

the more likely they are to keep watching.

So you don't have to try as hard

in the hypothetically back half of a video

as you do it in the front.

Like even right now,

we're so deep into this where a lot of people listening

are probably just gonna keep listening

relatively close to the end

unless we just have a really boring part

of this conversation.

'Cause they're just in it, they're immersed.

And so a big like, to really boil it down to a simple level,

you just want to get people

where they're immersed in the content

and then just kind of hold them there.

The thing is, it's all knowledge. It really is.

And like every time I say this,

people debate it to the end of time on Twitter,

but I don't care.

Like I could start a new channel tomorrow

with not using my face or my voice

like without ever promoting it

and in six months have 20 million subscribers.

I just could, yeah, it's purely knowledge.

Like if you knew what I knew,

you could get 10 million views of video

and you could get 10 million subscribers

no matter where you are right now within six months.

It really is just knowledge.

And I could already tell you 90% of the people watching,

they don't, they don't agree with that.

They don't.

And everyone has excuses and they're always like, nah,

YouTube just doesn't work like that, Jimmy,

you don't understand.

But I mentor a lot of people.

I see it even to this day, I still see it all the time.

It is possible.

It is simply knowledge and the second you accept

that it is knowledge and you start your,

for me, 10,000 day journey of learning, for you,

whatever it is, if you want to be less hardcore but,

and like actually figuring out, you know,

what makes a good video, what does my audience want,

how can I elevate?

And then you take that knowledge and you just,

you just assume that I will never understand

what the perfect video is and every single day

I just need to be devoted to learning as much as possible

and improving as much as possible.

And I gotta prove every video as much as I can.

Then, there you go.

There are tons of viral ideas that people can do

that don't require money.

It does not require money to go viral.

Like at one point,

one of my most few videos was like

spending 24 hours in a desert,

we just grabbed a tent, some stuff and we went in the desert

and it got like 60, 70 million views.

I have so many videos where we spent hardly any money,

like the no food one or I'd have to pull up the channel

and go through it that have gotten tens of millions of views

and they would've gotten 10 plus million views

even on a small channel.

So people who say,

oh well, I could be MrBeast if I had money.

Well, A, I didn't start off with money, I was poor,

I had no money and it took me like seven years

just to buy a camera saving up from YouTube

and B, some of our most reviews literally,

like anyone can do.

The best way to get views in my opinion,

I think it's better to really, really focus on quality.

If you're a very small YouTuber

and you can upload a video a day

and like all the videos be average

and like none of those videos will really stand out.

None of it's like epic enough

where like the algorithm's gonna go,

oh this video, like this video is good.

Like we need to spread it,

feel like a lot of small YouTubers

they just post like videos that aren't bad

but they're not great and they just do that

and none of them ever pop off so they never get an audience

where it might be better to like, you know,

upload half or a third or even like a fifth of the videos

but make the videos you upload so freaking good

that like the algorithm has to promote it

and that, you know, it has to find audiences for it,

'cause it's such an interesting and good video,

when you like set a consistent schedule

and you're constantly having to upload videos

that aren't as good as you'd like because you gotta hit,

oh this Monday, I said I'd upload every Monday.

You know like that's a dangerous trap because then you know,

the viewers notice that the quality isn't as good

and it makes them less likely to watch.

And I think it hurts your longevity.

A lot of times people, oh boy,

it's like they think their videos are better than they are,

honestly and that...

- Tell them Jimmy, tell them.

- I mean they do and you have to like,

you have to, that and they have horrible friend groups

'cause you really are

like the type of YouTubers you hang around.

And so like a lot of times I'm just like,

what you're saying is wrong, who told you this?

They're like, oh, this guy, this guy.

And it's like, well they're wrong.

It's not true.

You, there's no such thing as a perfect video.

Like someone should always call you and...

(beeping)

It on your video 'cause it could be better.

Like that's because imagine if someone does that every video

and you upload 100s, if not 1,000 videos

over the next 10 years

and every single time someone's critiquing you

and you're applying what they're critiquing.

Like imagine the compound effect.

Over that time span. It's invaluable.

People think it's like,

oh well, it's all like CTR and stuff like that.

But a big thing that everyone...

(beeping)

Underestimates is it's,

what was your experience with your last video?

If people loved your,

the last video of yours that they watched,

they're more likely to watch your next one.

For the YouTubers watching this,

when people watch your video they go, okay,

that was good but like, that's enough of you for the day.

Like it was all right, right?

Whereas what you want is them to go,

holy crap, that was crazy.

Oh my god, what's that?

Holy crap. That was crazy. Oh my god.

And they just, and they watched 10 videos.

That's what you're going for.

That data can't describe and like I don't,

I've never heard anyone talk about that but that,

that is it.

That's how you get these high view counts

because people watch 10 videos, not one, you know?

It's okay to draw inspiration for me

but just don't do what I do to a T.

- It's not like $1 versus blank.

- [Interviewer] Yeah.

- I'm the first person to do it but I just, you know,

saw that format and I was just like,

how can I do that 100 times better?

- Right.

- How can I put 100 times more creativity into it?

How can I level up the editing by 100 times?

How can I spend 100 blah, blah, blah.

- [Interviewer] Yeah.

- And that's always my mindset.

How can I, like if I get inspired by something,

how can I do that but 100 times better and make it my own?

Whereas a lot of people are just like,

oh MrBeast did that, I'm just gonna do it.

- [Interviewer] Yeah, how do I make a good thumbnail?

How do I get people to click my video?

- [MrBeast] You want it to be simple.

You want them to be able to,

like when they're scrolling through their suggested

or homepage or whatever touch point,

you want them to instantly be able

to understand what you're conveying

and you want them to feel some type of emotion.

You know what I mean?

The way I like to phrase it is,

you wanna make it so interesting

or spike their curiosity or whatever emotion

so much that like if they don't click it,

they'll wonder, you know,

when they're, before they go to bed, like what happened?

You know what I mean?

Like, an example would be like if you uploaded a video,

I rode a skateboard with 1000 other people on it

and like people are falling off the side or whatever

and I'm envisioning like a giant skateboard

and people are like hanging on the side of it.

Maybe it's like about to go off a big ramp.

If you don't click that, you're gonna like be so curious,

it's gonna be on your mind, you know?

Later in the day when you're daydreaming,

you're gonna think like, huh, what happened?

What happened to those thousand people on that skateboard?

That's kind of a mindset I think you should have

when making thumbnails.

- How often do you change a thumbnail on a video?

Is that something, do you usually just stick with one

or you try different one?

- Well, so I think we,

we get better at making thumbnails every year.

So it's more, when I upload a thumbnail

I usually think it's good

and I don't change it most of the time,

but what happens is like three years later I look back

and I'm like, oh that's a horrible thumbnail.

And so it's usually like every two years

we just go back and update a lot of our older thumbnails

just 'cause they're terrible.

Just with like the new knowledge we have

and what we've learned.

And funny enough,

that actually usually does help quite a bit

when we update the thumbnails on old videos

that they usually do see a little bit of an uptake

'cause they're just, you know, if we take an old thumbnail

where it's like seeing if whatever, like 1,000,

100,000 mattresses can stop a car

and it just looks terrible.

And then with the new stuff I know

we zoom in a little bit so it's a little more visible

and make things look better.

Then magically it starts doing a little bit better.

'Cause now people actually understand what it is.

'cause I'm not as much of an idiot anymore.

In 10 years,

YouTube's gonna be bigger than television ever was

for culture in America, at least in my opinion.

And so I think a lot of people underestimate that

and people,

I don't think people really understand just how like,

to be a, one of the top creators

on the biggest social media platform

and that and that will also be the biggest in 10 years

during that whole time.

Like the amount of value and how crazy that is.

Like you don't need a network, you don't need, you know,

to go through people.

You just are, you can and you can do whatever you want

and you can influence people how you want.

It's just wild. It's mind blowing.

And you can leverage that to build businesses or you know,

like do things like Beast Philanthropy or whatever.

I think like people don't realize

just how much influence the top YouTube channels have.

No one's ever gonna do what I do better than me.

Like it's just not, it's not even humanly possible.

Like I reinvest every penny I make.

- [Interviewer] Yeah.

- I work every hour I'm awake,

I devote every atom in my brain to solving this.

I hire the best people on the planet.

I've been doing this for 14 years

and I think in decades, not years.

So I'm gonna be doing this for another 20, 30 years,

not two or three.

So no, the next me isn't gonna be me

because no one's gonna do what I do better than me.

It's not possible.

If I thought someone was doing better than me,

I'd just start sleeping less so I could work even more.

Like I'd figure it out, I don't get...

- The barrier to entry to be you is extremely high.

- Yeah.

- Right? Especially where you're at now.

- Well it's 'cause I'm all in. I'm crazy.

Like people shouldn't be me.

I don't have a life, I don't have work life balance.

I, my personality, my soul,

my being is making the best videos possible,

entertaining my fans as best as I can.

Like that is why I exist on this planet.

And I don't recommend it.

You know, mean like, you should have work-life balance.

You should not devote your entire life to this one thing.

Like go have fun.

Like, you know, I'm miserable a lot of times

I have a mental breakdown every other week

'cause I push myself so hard.

Like I don't recommend it, you know?

- What do you think gets us to a million subscribers?

- Well, subscribers is an arbitrary,

so a million that doesn't matter.

- A million views of videos.

- You should ask me what helps us make

the best videos possible.

That's the only question you should ask me.

Subscribers don't matter. Views don't matter.

I mean they do.

- [Interviewer] Yeah.

- But all that comes,

everything you...

(beeping)

Want as a creator comes

from making the best videos possible and thumbnails.

But it's easier to, you know, make thumbnails,

the video part's the hard part.

And that's the thing that you're known for.

Ask how can I make my videos better?

Do that every single day for years.

And then you'll probably get views.