Ranking Revolution

Doug: Welcome to the Ranking Revolution
Podcast, your go to source for strategies

and ideas for SEO, organic growth,
content creation, and online business.

I'm your host, Doug Cunnington.

This episode is about how to avoid.

Burnout.

I've done a very good job at that.

And I don't feel close to burnout at all.

At the start of 2024, there were a
bunch of YouTubers quitting YouTube.

They burned out.

They created jobs.

They hated.

My thesis is to make sure that
you're doing work that you enjoy.

At least most of the time.

I'll frame a lot of this with
YouTube because that's what inspired

the episode, but it also applies
to content creation in general.

This could be podcast
videos, short form videos.

Blogs or short form written content
for social media, like Twitter, you

could generalize to anything, and
this actually could be like an agency

or a company, or even your full time
job, if you treat it kind of like an

entrepreneur, but a lot of businesses
find themselves creating content, whether

you're a straight up content creator on
YouTube, a lot of businesses are moving

in the direction to produce content.

Don't chase after what you think
will get views and attention.

If your YouTube channel is your main
source of income, then it's a job.

Treat it like a job and set
boundaries between your work

life and your personal life.

It's often very hard to do
because like me, you're in your

home office or your home studio.

So you literally are in your
personal life and your work life.

It all blends together.

Sometimes, if you have a vlog or
something like that, you're literally

using your personal life as part
of the content for your work life.

You need to also make sure that you take
breaks and walk away if you need to.

It seems obvious, but if you kind of
like what you're doing, creating content

or maybe this specific project you
have is really interesting to you, it's

hard to get up and take those breaks.

But take breaks.

It will be helpful.

Next is about your team structure.

I would suggest that you build a small
team to help, but don't build a big team.

A small team is easier to manage
and will help you avoid burnout.

A big team will have
a lot more complexity.

It will allow you to do more
work, but it's way more complex.

The systems will be more
complicated, even if you had them

all ironed out for a smaller team.

You'll have more communication
points, which takes more time.

More communication means there are more
chances for miscommunications as well.

It's also more stressful to have a team.

So if you hire five full time employees,
then they are counting on you.

So are their families.

Their families are counting on you.

So it's not just you and your family,
which is stressful, but there's a bunch

of other people counting on you not to
mess things up and to keep work flowing.

So these YouTube creators
Created very high paying jobs.

A lot of these YouTubers were
in the millions of subscribers,

which is extremely rare.

And the thing is they created these
jobs and they are self employed.

They often had teams.

So people were counting on
them, including their families.

And since they were making a shitload of
money, they needed to keep earning money.

And they needed the money.

To live each month and they needed to
support their employees and have the

machine running and you have a very clear
Incentive to keep going and keep earning

when you create that job but just like any
job if you don't need it, it's easier to

walk away and hard part is these people
needed the job and They got burned out

because they created a very stressful
situation for themselves So here are some

things to keep in mind to avoid burnout.

Focus on sustainability.

Don't chase trends or fads or people
like me on YouTube who are saying you

got to do this, or you got to do that.

A lot of times.

Hell, we're just trying to get views out
there and it may or may not be a really

good idea for you to spend time on it.

So create content that you enjoy and
that you can create for a long time.

Or if you're running an agency or
a company in general, don't offer

services that you don't like or
services that don't have longevity.

Or if you don't like working with
clients, don't create a job where

you have to work with clients
because you're going to hate it.

If you're creating content,
focus on what you enjoy creating.

Quick caveat, of course, you're
not going to enjoy every piece of

every single thing that you do.

It should be pretty clear that you
enjoy some things more than others.

Don't fall for the trap
of audience capture.

When I first heard a reference to audience
capture, it was in a negative context.

And I don't know if it's always
negative, but I think the idea

has been around for a while.

I didn't know the pure definition.

So I asked my best friend now chat, GBT.

Audience capture is a phenomenon where
content creators, media outlets, or brands

become overly reliant on catering to the
specific preferences and biases of their

core audience, sometimes at the expense
of broader objectives like accuracy,

diversity of opinion, or quality.

This can happen in any content driven
field, such as news, blogging, YouTube

channels, or social media platforms.

So that's the definition from chat GPT.

generally, if I did this,
here's how it might look.

I'll publish a video about.

Lactose intolerant cows, and it
gets a ton of views and goes viral.

I see it's working.

So I publish more videos about lactose
intolerant cows, and that's all I do.

Next thing, you know, I'm just spending
all my time thinking about and creating

content about lactose intolerant cows.

So I'll give you a quick real example.

Obviously that one was completely made
up and I'll link to a longer story

called the perils of audience capture.

It's very sad and it's ridiculous.

So I'm going to read a little
excerpt here, or at least a summary.

Nicholas Perry, originally a vegan
violinist on YouTube, pivoted to

creating mukbang videos under the
name Nikado Avocado, gaining a

massive following by responding to
audience demands for extreme eating

challenges, that's what mukbang means.

This shift from health conscious
content to consuming large quantities

of food in a single sitting
dramatically transformed his online

persona and physical appearance.

The audience's escalating demands
led Perry to adopt a more grotesque,

loud, and abrasive character,
moving far from his initial mild

mannered and health focused persona.

So that that's the general idea.

If you read the story,
you'll see a pretty.

small person, and then they
put on a huge amount of weight.

It is a pretty sad story overall.

And like the article said, he
became pretty abrasive and just a

caricature of what a YouTuber is.

So in short, do your shit,
whatever your shit is.

Stick to it.

And you're going to be enjoying it.

You have long sustainability.

It might take longer.

But if you create content for
yourself and you enjoy it, then other

people will probably enjoy it too.

There is an exception.

If you want to test and see if
playing with the algorithm works

for you, then you can check it out.

Treat it as a game, but
don't get sucked in.

So you might create a video that
you think should work and see how

it works and then go on from there.

Don't get sucked in.

I'm not someone that does
affirmations, but I guess there's

something that I say fairly often.

And that is, fuck the algorithm.

I'm creating the content that
I like, that I want to create.

Up next is about the team again.

So keep your team small.

It's just less stressful.

It's easier to manage.

And for me, I just sleep better
at night with a small team.

Next is about money.

Get your finances and cash flow straight.

Establishing a financial buffer
can relieve the pressure to

consistently chase the trends or
produce content solely for revenue.

This is the trap that those
other YouTubers got into.

The financial planning ensures that
you can focus more on content that you

like to create and that you truly enjoy
and less on what has to pay the bills.

I do recommend you get regular
feedback and community support.

So engaging with your peers
for feedback and mentorship can

significantly boost your motivation
and provide a fresh perspective.

So if you're stuck on something,
you can get an outside opinion.

This community interaction helps.

Prevent the feelings of isolation
that often contribute to burnout.

One thing that I've integrated
into my YouTube channels and

my podcast is interviews.

So usually I'm just talking to my friends.

People that I met either
online or sometimes in person

at conferences and events.

It's fantastic.

That's pretty much all the sort of social
interaction that I need in my work time.

I mentioned it before, but another great
thing is to take breaks through the day.

I know it sounds dumb, but stand
up, get up, take a 5 10 minute

walk, go outside if possible.

Take these 5 10 minute walks
every 90 minutes or so.

It may seem like it's less
productive, but you'll actually

be more productive throughout the
full day by taking these breaks.

You should also be aware
of your mental health.

Recognizing signs of mental fatigue
and stress early on and prioritizing

your mental health and well
being can prevent severe burnout.

This awareness ensures that you
continue to enjoy what you're

doing without feeling overwhelmed.

related to mental health is sleep.

So I'll just mention if you are really
stressed out, if you feel mental

fatigue, if things are harder for
you to do mentally, think about it.

Are you getting enough sleep?

And it feels like it's less productive,
but if you get enough sleep, a lot

of your stress, a lot of the sort of.

Slow mental processes
will get much better.

And I know a hundred percent, I probably
would have made much better grades and

things would have been a lot easier
if I just got enough sleep in college.

In my early career right now, I'm sleeping
quite a lot, usually about eight hours

a night, give or take, and I feel great.

All around stress is a thing
of the past most of the time.

So if you realize you are
getting overwhelmed, make sure

you're getting enough sleep.

Next is about quality.

So focus on good enough quality.

This applies mostly to content creation.

Perfection will not be appreciated
as much as you think it will.

So I believe you're better off getting
in more repetitions and iterating

and shipping products more quickly.

Whatever your product is, if it's a
YouTube short, if it's a long form video,

if it's a TikTok, whatever, get more reps
in, that's probably going to pay off more.

If you're running an agency or working
with clients, a high level of quality

will be better for your deliverables.

So maybe you don't have to hit perfection,
but maybe do better than good enough.

High level of quality will lead to your
clients telling their friends and other

companies and that is quite valuable.

So if you are running an agency
or have a service, then a high

level of quality is more important.

However, for podcasters and YouTubers,
you can ship good enough content and it

will be good enough most of the time.

for podcasters and YouTubers,
get the audio dialed in.

That's one area I obsess about, and I
will sometimes still ship stuff that is

good enough where the audio isn't perfect,
but I really have tried to do a good job

getting the best audio straight into the
mic and then processing it the best I can.

Last is just adding variety.

So diversify the types of content
that you produce just to keep it

interesting, keep your sanity.

It will help avoid monotony and
boredom and keep things interesting.

However, if you get trapped in your
system, if you get trapped in the monotony

of it all, then you will get bored.

Bored.

So I say some portion of the content
that you create should have some variety.

If you see some other person's
content, their video, their long

form video, then you can maybe try
to emulate it in your own niche.

And that's a good way to add variety.

And not only enriches your portfolio,
but it guards against that creative

burnout that comes from repeating the
same styles or topics over and over again.

And if I could just leave you with
one broad tip that you can apply

across the board and just think
about any kind of work that you're

doing, focus on sustainability.

If you can do whatever it is
that you're doing for a long

time, then you'll be successful.