For creators

The other side of the deal. What to charge, how to read your analytics when something drops, and what YouTube’s changes mean in practice.

Your own rate band, from your median views: the free sponsorship rate calculator.

YouTube Strategy
8/13/2026

YouTube's Shorts Ad Payouts Now Require 10M Views/90 Days

Starting February 1, 2027, YouTube attaches a rolling 10-million-views-per-90-days floor to Shorts ad revenue — miss it and YouTube keeps running ads on your Shorts, it just stops paying you. Here's the new math, who's exposed, and the deadline that matters.

YouTube Strategy
8/7/2026

VidSummit Costs $995, TwitchCon $149. Both Are Right.

The three creator conferences worth planning around, with real ticket prices and dates. The 6.7x price gap isn't quality — it's what each event sells. And the ticket is under half what going actually costs.

YouTube Strategy
5/26/2026

YouTube Audience Retention: 10 Strategies, Mapped to Your Drop-Off Curve

How to read your YouTube retention graph and fix the moments that bleed viewers — ten tactics mapped to the five zones every drop-off curve breaks into.

YouTube Strategy
5/13/2026

How to Read YouTube Analytics When Your Views Drop

Your YouTube views dropped. Studio's open. Here's the 15-minute framework to read what your analytics are actually telling you — and what to fix.

YouTube Strategy
5/13/2026

YouTube Impressions Dropped But CTR Is Fine — What It Actually Means

Your YouTube impressions dropped but CTR is fine. Here's what that signature actually means in Studio — and why redoing your thumbnail is the wrong move.

YouTube Strategy
5/13/2026

YouTube Suggested Videos Traffic Dropped — How to Diagnose It

Your YouTube Suggested videos traffic dropped while Browse and Search held. Here's why it's about your viewer, not your channel — and how to diagnose it.

YouTube Strategy
5/13/2026

Why YouTube CTR Went Up But Views Went Down

Your YouTube CTR went up but views went down. Most creators read this wrong — here's what the math is actually telling you, and the cross-check to run.

YouTube Strategy
5/13/2026

YouTube Browse vs Suggested vs Search Traffic — Which One Failed

Your YouTube traffic dropped — but which surface failed? Browse, Suggested, and Search each fail differently, and the fix depends on the cause.