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To everyone beginning their content journey this January
Posted by on January 3, 2026 at 6:37 pmIf you're getting into content creation this January, let me help you skip around 3 months of going nowhere. Not because I'm some success story, but because I messed up enough recently that every mistake's still fresh.
New year has everyone starting. Energy's high, plans are ready, everyone thinks this year's different. Could be. But you're gonna hit the same walls I did. Spending time on stuff that feels productive while the real work gets ignored.
Not trying to be negative. Just want to pass along what I didn't get starting out. Real mistakes that ate real months. Not advice from some video.
You'll be frustrated no matter what. That's just how starting goes. But there's frustrated while improving versus frustrated while stuck. These 8 things help you tell which one you're in.
1. Your first 10 videos will suck and that's perfect
Stop sitting around waiting to post. Research does nothing. Making bad videos does everything. I spent 3 weeks watching other creators before uploading. Total waste. Made 10 garbage videos and everything made sense.
2. Second 5 decides if they stay
People leave between second 4 and 7 unless you've given them something good. I kept building up to the payoff. Dumb move. Now I drop my best thing right at second 5. Opening catches them. Second 5 keeps them there.
3. Any pause over 1 second kills you
I tracked this myself. Silence past 1.2 seconds and people think the video froze. Your comfortable pace feels slow to scrollers. Cut way tighter than feels normal. Natural pauses work in real life. Here they just make people scroll.
4. Overthinking your niche keeps you stuck
Just pick something and go. You can't think your way to the right niche. It shows up after making 20 videos and seeing what works. I wasted a whole month researching options. Complete waste. Making reveals the answer, not planning.
5. The videos you're embarrassed to post usually perform best
Your careful polished stuff flops. Your quick messy stuff hits. I deleted 3 videos before posting because they seemed rough. All 3 would've done great based on what works now. Stop killing your own stuff before posting.
6. Use apps that actually tell you what to fix
There are apps that check your videos and tell you exactly what's broken and how to fix it. I use Tik-AIyzer and it completely changed things. It says stuff like "hook takes 4.2 seconds, cut to 1.8" or "pause at second 7 drops 40%, remove it." First 30 videos got 240 views guessing. Next 30 got 3,800 because I knew what to change.
7. Your natural speaking pace kills retention
You pause to breathe and think like normal. Viewers want constant motion. Pauses over 1 second lose 30 to 40% of people still watching. Cut all of them. Sounds too fast to you. Works.
8. Lighting beats camera quality
Phone camera's totally fine. Dark face isn't. I bought better equipment thinking it would matter. Changed nothing. Got a basic ring light and retention tripled because my face stood out. Dark videos get scrolled past instantly.
These 8 things cost me 3 months. You have them today. Don't learn the hard way.
2026's huge for short content. More creators starting, more platforms competing, better tools around. Perfect time to jump in. Just work on what actually matters from day one.
Post something this week. Yesterday was better. Today's second best.
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1 Reply
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you posted this before so i will say it again i am not going to spend my precious time editing my footage so that it appeals to people with the attention span of a peanut , if you want to do that go right ahead.
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I always mention this in terms of youtube ads. The ones that try to set a mood you skip immediately. Some of them are dumb and annoying yet you’re curious to see how it pans out, but then of course they drag on so you end up skipping them too. I think it’s best to hook people and then also give the message so they know who you are and remember you.
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I have a silly question I’ve been trying for a while in the dance niche and it’s not working. The other niches vary, but this is a niche I’d like to make go viral. How do you think I can apply what you said to dance when there are so many other competitors?
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