I've been making content for the past couple years, I've been editing my own content as well as working alongside a partnered creator. Wanted to shared my thoughts with others that hopefully don't sound like scripted bullshit from checkmarked engagement farming pages. *Disclaimer* these are all personal thoughts and opinions that shhould not be taken as scripture but I feel could be helpful to creators starting out, or those that may feel a little lost.

For starters, being confident in yourself is a huge step in the right direction. If you don't feel happy with your own content, it's going to reflect in it. It's extremely noticeable. Watching your content back is something majorly helpful to you, especially if your content comes from streaming. It's the cliche saying of "being happy with yourself before being happy with someone else" expanded. If you're not seeing a banger of content from yourself, no one else is going to see one either.

Stop buying $60-$100 Triple A games SOLELY because they are popular. Play games YOU want to play. I see way too often early creators jumping on something because they watch bigger creators success with it then upset that their analytics are low. The game is an extension of you. You're the content, anyone can just sit and play a video game. For those who are on PC there is constantly $5 or less games you can play with your buds. At the same time if you like playing, and making content with the big releases Dude go for it! It all comes back to you being happy with what you're doing.

Editing your own content when you can't afford to pay someone else is time consuming, learning a new skill is a process, but also has major benefits. It forces you to watch your content back. You also get to work on time management, which is important for the majority who work day jobs. I am not a parent, so I can't speak to those who have families, I am sure that is outrageously more difficult for time management with content. So please don't feel like I'm saying "work harder, it was your fault to be a parent!" I can only speak from my own experiences, and I ain't no one's daddy.

There are a ton of things that I feel like can streamline your editing to help with balancing some things out. Things like replay buffer on OBS, Nvidia shadowplay (I am sure there are more options but I use those two specifically) to clip in real time so that you at least can slam your moments together into a video if you don't have time to watch back your entire VOD (for those who use their streaming content) I know there are websites like streamladder that allow you to reformat for shorts/tiktok. There ARE resources to help you when you're figuring things out.

The numbers, boy howdy the god damn numbers Mason. Celebrate when things do well, try not to harp on when videos "flop" I'm a musician first, then content creator and look I've played dozens of shows that no one showed up to. But you pack up your gear, utilize your vice, then prepare for the next one. Same with content! Your value is not depicted by the numbers.

Finally, know what type of content you want to make! If you want to make funny moment gameplay, make funny moment gameplay. If you want to sweat in battle royales, do it! Just know what kind of content you want to make.

Majority of this is absolutely me just venting my own grievances about my peers into a void as I witness a lot of these things back and forth. I hope if you've read all this you find something useful out of it! Best of luck my friends, keep going.