The Next Stage for Creators #20

Despite the fact that the last four weeks have been a time for me to take a break, relax and unwind a lot has happened in the world of YouTube and content creation.
If the first two weeks of the year are any indication for what’s to come, 2024 will be a pivotal year for the creator economy with a huge opportunity for new talent to arise. Let’s look at it in detail.

💛 Valentin

The Next Stage for Orbit

Since the launch of Orbit last September, the channel gained over 20K views and continues to grow on a steady basis. The first season, made possible by collaborating with trusted friends in the creator community, laid a solid foundation

With a proven concept in hand, it's time to elevate Orbit to the next level by featuring a more diverse array of creators. Here's a sneak peek at what's on the horizon:

Now that there is a proof of concept it’s time to take it to next level and highlight more creators with more diverse backgrounds. While I’m still in the planning stages for the next seasons I’d like to share with you what’s on the horizon.

• A Feature on Breakout Creators 
  Almost on a weekly basis do I see creators jump from obscurity to having a video with 100K+ views overnight. I’ve already invited some of them to talk about how that feels and what the decisions where that lead to it.

• Creators behind the Creator 
  Who are the people that support successful creators and what insights do they have to building a sustainable creator brand?

• All Female Crew 
  If there has been one criticism of the launch crew it’s that those were all dudes. And I agree. That’s why a major focus will be to connect with more female creators and hopefully have a full season of female creators by Fall.

Additionally, over the next three months, I’ll be focusing more on this very newsletter to develop it into the best resource for creators in Europe and beyond. It was started to give viewers of the channel a way to go one level deeper and provide insights on a more regular basis. That thought turned into a weekly digest of remarkable content. Always trying to strike a balance between tactical advice, feel good content and insights to how creators grow.

Now it’s time to home in on what delivers the most value to creators like you. Is it the feel-good content you can watch over the weekend, detailed case studies of breakout creators, or should this become more of a behind-the-scenes log of the strategic choices made for the Orbit channel?

Your feedback is invaluable in shaping the future of Orbit and this newsletter. What content brings the most value to creators like you?

Why is Everyone Quitting?

Over the last two weeks a surprising exodus has taken place in the world of YouTube, with prominent creators such as Tom Scott, Mattie Happoja, Jordy/Cinecom, MatPat, and Steven Lim from Watcher all stepped away from the platform or at least their main channel. These are the ones I personally have come across but the list goes on.

Simultaneously, creators like Matt D’Avella and Ali Abdaal are downsizing, opting for a return to a more enjoyable content creation process. For many of them, this shows the silver lining after years of tremendous success. Building and managing a team, entails significant responsibility and requires a very different skill from creating engaging videos.

However, this changing landscape offers emerging creators a unique window of opportunity. With established figures stepping back, there's a gap waiting to be filled by fresh faces. Maybe that could be you.

How Nebula Works

If you ever got frustrated with a video that refuses to load or be served to you in bold 360p pixels you might want to watch this video to get a whole new understanding of the systems behind online video streaming.

While Nebula describes itself simply as an add-on to YouTube the fundamental technology behind it is the same. Knowing how things work not only enhances your understanding of the systems but also instills a deeper appreciation for the seamless video streaming experience we often take for granted.

Fun stuff to click on

Jay Alto predicts how YouTube will change this year
Jon Youshaei shares MrBeast’s best YouTube growth tips
Passionfroot is hosting a panel to talk about how to craft brand partnerships
Patrick Stirling starts a Newsletter for the best DaVinci Resolve Tutorials

Inside the Orbit

Finally I’m excited to share that Aidan, Lenka and Wojtek, all core members of the Orbit community have been awarded a year long scholarship from Creator Now to level up their game.

Are you ready to join the Orbit community?
Sign up for the public launch waitlist to reserve your spot!

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