Speaker 1: Here are 10 smart tools every content creator should be using with the first one being Instagram stories to create your YouTube thumbnails. I've literally done this in the past, especially if I'm in a pinch, really simple. Number one, you can use the camera to take a photo of yourself over a plain backdrop. And here's a power tip. If you have an iPhone, you can actually hold down on yourself if you've taken a photo of yourself, and it'll literally take you off the background, and then you can paste it into stories. It's really cool. But what you can also do is add transparent images or ping files. Maybe you're doing a software tutorial, or you can take that from Google Images and paste that into your Instagram story. And you can also add text by simply hitting the text icon and then just adjust it accordingly. Obviously, you wanna turn your phone sideways and make sure that you're designing it for a YouTube thumbnail. But literally, once you're done designing the thumbnail, hit the three dots on the top of your phone, and then save that image to your camera roll, go into your camera roll, rotate it correctly, and then upload it to your YouTube video. But really just a great and free way to get a thumbnail made, and that is by using Instagram stories. The next tool is to use your smartphone as a microphone. Most people have smartphones, and you can use this as a microphone. And here's a cool thing. You know, all you have to do in post when you're editing is simply sync, and usually most editing softwares allow you to do that with one click. But just sync up your audio from your camera or your other smartphone, and you'll be good to go. Now, another bonus tip when it comes to this is that you can run this audio file in a tool called Adobe Enhancer, and it'll literally make this audio file sound like it's a professional podcast. Like, it literally sounds like I'm using a Shure SM7B, which is like a $400 plus microphone setup. But you can literally do this if you're out and about or you need the ability to move around. Just use your smartphone. Just make sure you're getting scratch audio on whatever camera you're using so that you could sync it in post. What a great way to level up your audio in your videos. Now, if you own a camera and you're a solo creator, download the free software that comes with your camera to control your camera wirelessly. Not only will it give you an image from where you're sitting and you can see yourself, but you can literally start and stop recording as well. It just unlocks more potential with your camera, and you don't even have to buy anything. And it just makes using your camera a lot easier rather than getting up, starting, and stopping. Having this ability to start and stop recording alone is super convenient, especially if you're a solo creator. Now, this is an arguable debate, but I think the best free editing software right now is CapCut, and this is an app that could be found on any smartphone device. You can also download it if you have a MacBook, and if you haven't heard or looked into this app, it honestly gives you everything you need to be able to edit videos, both horizontal and vertical. And there's so many features within this app that as you learn it, you can really create some complex and engaging edits, but if you're just getting started, it's super great for beginners as well. And I can't say enough good things about CapCut. It's definitely worth giving a try. The next one is the Captions app. What's cool about this app is it uses AI to add both emojis and GIFs. When it comes to captioning your videos, which is super great for beginners, you don't have to think about it, it literally will do it for you. This is also a free app that you should definitely be using, especially if you're doing Reels, TikToks, and YouTube Shorts. This next free resource is actually brought to you by us here at Think Media, and that is our free one-hour YouTube masterclass. You know, a lot of people know you can make money using YouTube, but not a lot of people know how you can actually go about doing that beyond Google AdSense. And if you're considering starting a YouTube channel this year, or maybe you wanna use YouTube to make more money in your business, or start a part-time income, or side hustle, or maybe use YouTube and go full-time, then I would encourage you to check out that free one-hour YouTube masterclass. Put a link to it down in the description, or you can just go to thinkmasterclass.com. Super valuable training, check that out. And the next tool is going to be more of a recorder that is either using StreamYard or Loom. Now, if you are somebody who has PowerPoint presentations, or you wanna do reaction-style content, you can create great quality content. What's cool about StreamYard is you can actually do interviews, and you can invite guests on it, and then you can download it and make any final edits in something like CapCut. And we personally love using StreamYard a lot here at Think Media, especially at our Think Media podcast, as we do a lot of virtual interviews, but definitely two great tools to look into. Next is a solution to a mistake I see so many creators make, and that mistake is sharing your YouTube link on Instagram Stories or on another platform, meaning you click on a link in Instagram, and it opens up a YouTube page within Instagram, but then that person's not logged in, and then that viewer is not giving you proper analytics. And then number three, you're not giving them any options to be able to subscribe or like a video, because you have to be logged in, right? Using something like LinkTwin, which is simply a website where you paste your YouTube URL, and you paste it into this website, it gives you a new URL, which you would then use that to share on your social media platforms, or in emails and things like that, and it'll open up your video inside of the YouTube app, which is super powerful, and everyone should do this. Anytime I wanna share a video on my Stories, I just throw it in there, and then use that link to share to my followers. This next tool is a plugin that will help you grow your YouTube channel, and that is VidIQ, which is something we've been using for years, and we absolutely love having this plugin on our Google Chrome, and it not only gives you keyword, title, and description recommendations when it comes to posting your videos, it also tracks video performance in real time, like how your tags are being ranked in YouTube search, or even your competitors insight inside of their videos. You can get access to daily video ideas, which they use AI connected to your channel to produce, which is pretty sweet, and really one of our most favorite features is the optimization tools to save you time. There's so many things that you need to do when it comes to tags, titles, descriptions. VidIQ is awesome for that. The next tool that I would encourage you to check out is a free app called the Shure Motive Video app, and I think the coolest thing about this app, it's literally a camera app that will recognize whatever mic is plugged into it, and you can plug in whatever kind of mic, and just adjust the gain so that you can actually get really great audio in your video, and I wish the iPhone would allow you to adjust the gain, but it doesn't, and so checking out this free app will be awesome, but I hope you got value in this video. If you did, hit that like button, and if you wanna check out another video from us here at Think Media, just go ahead and click or tap the screen, and I can't wait to see you in a future video. Peace.