Is there really no such thing as a small creator? In July 2018 Cody Wanner's hashtag #NoSmallCreator got me thinking about numbers, motivation and why I keep making videos with a full-time job and twins at home.
Cody Wanner and the hashtag
Cody Wanner made a video arguing that there's no such thing as a small creator. The sheer energy of creating something is so big that pairing it with the word "small" is an oxymoron. I love his style and his power. He makes content for the "doers", and when you finish one of his videos you want to grab a camera and go shoot. Around that time Peter McKinnon noticed him, they made a couple of videos together, and Cody jumped from about 3,000 to over 26,000 subscribers in a very short time.
The struggle with numbers
So is it true? I watch hours of YouTube every day, and I often find great creators with just 200 subscribers making really good content. Then I see less polished channels with 100,000 subscribers and millions of views. That's where the struggle begins. You ask yourself: is it worth it? Am I doing this for the right reasons? Money? Fame? I really don't think so. I do it because it keeps me alive. I love waking up in the middle of the night to take notes, even when I'm dead tired.
The paradox of my life
I've been making videos since I was a kid. My mum filmed everything during our holidays, and I loved editing the footage to music. I learned by myself first, then at university. When I came back home I thought I'd found the job of my life at a local TV station, but over time I started hating it. Then I spent a long time unemployed. I had all the time in the world and created nothing. Now I have a full-time job and twins, and somehow I still find time to create.
I'm not expecting to get rich or famous from YouTube. I love pressing that publish button, sharing something I made and opening myself up to opinions and criticism. Numbers do matter on the platform. But if you create for the right reasons, the moment you hit publish you're a creator, and nobody is bigger than you. Passion and consistency take time to pay you back, but eventually they will.