Thomas Frank shares his journey of abandoning a 2 million subscriber channel to teach Notion tutorials, leading to a successful new channel. He discusses designing the perfect viewer experience, balancing browse and search views, and the pros and cons of relying on outside platforms for success. Advice is given on starting a tutorial channel, deciding what videos to make, and the importance of production value. Insights are shared on platform risks, content creation strategy, and building a successful tutorial channel by focusing on fundamentals and seeking feedback.

Today I’m talking with Thomas Frank. Thomas built a YouTube channel called College Info Geek to over a million subscribers. Since then, he’s rebranded and grown the channel to nearly 3 million subscribers. He’s also built a massive business around courses and Notion templates.In this episode we talk about making a pivot as a creator. Thomas has an interesting and understated approach that’s worked quite well. We also talk about the Notion templates he’s selling, the YouTube productivity channel he started strictly about Notion, and how it’s driving hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales per month.Thomas also explains why it’s easier getting started on YouTube today than it was 10 years ago, and I get Thomas’ candid thoughts on how Gumroad’s new pricing has affected his business and creators in general.In this episode, you’ll learn:Why now is a great time to get started on YouTubeHow to pull off a successful rebrand of your creator businessWhy your subscriber count isn’t as important as you thinkWas Gumroad’s price increase a mistake?Thomas’ Links (H5)Thomas’ websiteFollow Thomas on TwitterSubscribe to Thomas’ YouTube channelDownload Thomas’ Notion templatesCheck out Thomas’ Notion YouTube channelThomas’ Nebula.tv contentFollow College Info Geek on TwitterThomas’ Skillshare page

WATCH▶️ Watch this episode on YouTube***EPISODE DESCRIPTIONThomas is a YouTuber, podcaster, and author who helps people become more capable and productive. His main YouTube channel has nearly 2.5 million subscribers and more than 160 million views! In 2020, Thomas began producing a lot of content about how to use Notion, a popular project management and note-taking software. But instead of publishing those videos on his existing channel, Thomas created a SECOND channel called Thomas Frank Explains, which itself already has nearly 80K subscribers and almost 3 million views.So in this episode, we talk about Thomas’s YouTube journey, why he built a second channel for his Notion content, how he’s thinking about short-form video like Shorts, and how intentional he is about all of the details that go into building his business.Full transcript and show notesLearn more about Thomas FrankSubscribe to Thomas Frank on YouTubeSubscribe to Thomas Frank Explains on YouTubeFollow Thomas Frank on Twitter / Instagram***TIMESTAMPS00:17 - Today’s guest01:01 - When Thomas took YouTube seriously01:49 - Thomas’s early inspiration02:38 - What we learn today03:39 - YouTube vs Wistia05:27 - Why don’t Thomas’s old videos suck?06:36 - The “true” start of Thomas Frank07:14 - Using Reddit to grow on YouTube08:23 - Thomas goes viral10:26 - What changed after the viral video?11:41 - How Thomas was making money to focus on YouTube12:32 - Thomas didn’t turn on AdSense until 100k subs15:40 - Creator self-doubt16:53 - Thomas’s approach to criticism18:09 - What took 2200 subs to 2.5 million19:25 - Importance of platform discoverability21:35 - YouTube podcasts22:15 - How does Thomas think about his business today?23:13 - The Notion Arc26:18 - AdSense + Brand Deals vs Direct Monetization31:18 - Why make a second YouTube channel?32:58 - What’s the plan for the main channel?34:41 - How does the YouTube algorithm work?36:50 - How to think about short form video39:20 - Looking at content through the “Jobs to be done” framework41:39 - Why Thomas makes everything FREE45:45 - Thomas’s skillshare hack48:50 - Team Thomas Frank51:15 - Every creator should hire an editor sooner52:20 - Art vs Ego53:19 - What is currently frustrating Thomas Frank?***RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE→ #183: Thomas Frank***WHEN YOU'RE READY📬 Creator Science Newsletter🚀 Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system)🧪 Join The Lab (private membership community)🧞‍♂️ Get a Personalized Offer***CONNECT🐦 Connect on Twitter📸 Connect on Instagram💼 Connect on LinkedIn📹 Subscribe on YouTube***SPONSORS💼 View all sponsors and offers***SAY THANKS💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

Today’s guest is Thomas Frank! He’s a video creator and author with a focus on helping people become more capable of whatever they aspire to do. On his YouTube channel with over 2 million subscribers, he creates artistic and educational videos around productivity, habits, and "learning how to learn". In this episode we discuss how to better understand why we get burnt out and how to avoid it, the techniques Thomas uses to learn new things faster and improve your memory, how to actually master your time management, How to overcome procrastination and develop self-discipline and so much more!For more go to: www.lewishowes.com/1205Kobe Bryant on Mamba Mentality, NBA Titles, and Oscars: https://link.chtbl.com/691-podKevin Hart Breaks Down His Secrets to Success: https://link.chtbl.com/956-podKatherine Schwarzenegger Pratt on the Power of Forgiveness: https://link.chtbl.com/925-pod  Get more from Lewis! Pre-order my new book Make Money EasyGet The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

Thomas Frank argues with Dave about being part of the conversation (and Notion).Watch your favorite creators and listen to this podcast early on Nebula.https://nebula.tv/ndaDave Wiskushttps://twitter.com/dwiskusThomas Frankhttps://nebula.tv/thomasfrankhttps://nebula.tv/thomasfrankexplainshttps://www.youtube.com/c/Thomasfrankhttps://www.youtube.com/c/ThomasFrankExplainshttps://thomasjfrank.com/https://twitter.com/tomfranklySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Thomas Frank is a YouTuber. His main channel has 2.75 million subscribers. His second channel (about Notion) recently crossed 100,000 subscribers. And in today’s episode, we dove deep into YouTube, how to have a better title and thumbnail, why he started a new channel, burnout, what most people get wrong about learning, and much more… (0:00) Intro (1:27) 2.75 Million Subscribers (3:33) Design (7:28) Title/Thumbnail Best Practices (13:15) Early Days of Creating Online (22:23) Why Videos Instead Of Writing? (23:48) Working For His Favorite Creators (26:42) Why Do Schools Block YouTube? (27:33) Obsession (32:00) New Channel / Burnout (37:39) Changing Locations (47:43) Tracking Exponential Numbers (51:25) Issues With Getting Big On YouTube? (55:50) Thomas’ Impossible List & Generalization (1:00:20) Challenge (1 Percent Rule) - Resources Mentioned: Crash Course Study Skills – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7CwqNHn_Ns&list=PLx65qkgCWNJKHcoJzgJ8xd97JbS64e4xE This Is Why You Aren’t Inspired – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAWe4Qq-Rp0 Survivorship bias – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias Thomas Frank’s Impossible List – https://collegeinfogeek.com/about/meet-the-author/my-impossible-list/ - Thomas’ Links  YouTube (Main Channel):  @Thomasfrank    YouTube (Second Channel):  @ThomasFrankExplains    Twitter: https://twitter.com/TomFrankly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tomfrankly/ Website: https://thomasjfrank.com/ - SPONSOR: This episode is brought to you by My First Million. This is the podcast that I listen to and recommend whenever I want to learn more about business, technology, or the future. Sam Parr and Shaan Puri are hilarious, informative, and interesting. Check it out! - My Links ✉️ Newsletter: https://dannymiranda.substack.com 🎙 Podcast: https://anchor.fm/dannymiranda 🎥 YouTube: https://youtube.com/dannymiranda 🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/heydannymiranda 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/heydannymiranda 🕺 TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@heydannymiranda

Thomas Frank, a YouTube personality and entrepreneur, discusses how he made $1 million with his new YouTube channel. They talk about the importance of becoming the go-to person in a niche, transitioning to a niche audience, building a sustainable YouTube channel, co-hosting a personal finance podcast, and starting and monetizing a YouTube channel effectively.

David speaks with Thomas Frank, a writer and video creator passionate about helping people become more capable and productive.Thomas is the founder of the College Info Geek, a blog to help you learn effectively, spend less time studying, and become more productive (even if you're not in college). He is also a Notion power-user, and creates tutorials and free Notion templates on the side.We talked about his background and his story and everything that has come along with his path, about how to nurture your own creativity and how to channel it into producing a consistent body of work that has a lasting impact.And so you're gonna hear us answering a bunch of questions like how do you find your passion? And how do you pick which projects to start? And then, how do you know when to quit? And how do you deal with success?📜 Full transcript:www.theknowledge.io/thomasfrank/📹 Watch on YouTubehttps://youtu.be/O1XzyCrxlCM👤 Connect with Thomas Frank:Twitter profile: @TomFrankly | https://twitter.com/TomFranklyInstagram profile: tomfrankly | https://www.instagram.com/tomfrankly/Website: thomasjfrank.com🗣 Mentioned in the show:College Info Geek Podcast | https://collegeinfogeek.com/The Inforium | https://art19.com/shows/the-inforiumThe Dip by Seth Godin | https://amzn.to/3TDIcJMRyan Holiday | https://ryanholiday.net/Sara Deistchy | https://www.saradietschy.com/Yahoo Geocities | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo!_GeoCitiesWanting by Luke Burgis | https://amzn.to/3AcZfeSDiscipline is Destiny by Ryan Holiday | https://amzn.to/3USSjeJFeynman technique | https://fs.blog/feynman-technique/Nassim Taleb | https://twitter.com/nntaleb?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^authorKhe Hy | https://radreads.co/Back to The Future | https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088763/Gifts from your past self | https://www.theknowledge.io/issue45/The Sunk Cost Fallacy | https://www.theknowledge.io/sunk-cost-fallacy/👨🏾‍💻 About David Elikwu:David Elikwu FRSA is a serial entrepreneur, strategist and writer. David is the founder of The Knowledge, a platform helping people think deeper and work smarter.Twitter: @Delikwu / @itstheknowledgeNewsletter: https://theknowledge.ioWebsite: https://www.davidelikwu.com,Podcast: http://plnk.to/theknowledge🚀 Career HyperdriveCareer Hyperdrive is a live, cohort-based course that helps people find their competitive advantage, gain clarity around their goals and build a future-proof set of mental frameworks so they can live an extraordinary life doing work they love.During this course, you will make the leap from 'going with the flow' to actively crafting your journey. And you’ll join a community of ambitious peers who will hold you accountable for betting on yourself.http://careerhyperdrive.com🧭 The KnowledgeOn The Knowledge Podcast you’ll hear from the best and brightest minds in business, entrepreneurship, and beyond. Hosted by writer and entrepreneur David Elikwu, each episode features in-depth interviews with makers, thinkers, and innovators from a variety of backgrounds.The Knowledge is a weekly newsletter for people who want to get more out of life. It's full of insights from psychology, philosophy, productivity and business, all designed to help you think deeper and work smarter.Website: theknowledge.ioPodcast: plnk.to/theknowledgeSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-knowledge-with-david-elikwu/donations

Productivity guru Thomas Frank joins us this week to evaluate the state of the iPad Pro and Mac as productivity tools. Thomas is a YouTuber, podcaster, and content creator best known for his personal development video essays, Notion tutorials and templates, and Skillshare courses. We discuss the ‌iPad Pro‌'s hardware and form factor, the advancements and limitations of iPadOS 16, and accessories like the Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard. We explore the M2 MacBook Air, share some productivity tips, and weigh up the upsides and downsides of Apple's platforms for getting things done. We also touch on some of our favorite third-party apps like Things 3, Obsidian, Craft, and Notion. See more of Thomas's work on his YouTube channel or his website. You can follow us @danbarbera and @HartleyCharlton. Be sure to visit macrumors.com for all of the latest Apple news and rumors. This episode of the MacRumors Show podcast is sponsored by Banktivity. Visit https://www.banktivity.com/macrumors for more information! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thomas Frank, a YouTube creator with over 2.8m subscribers, talks about his transition from helping college students to selling Notion templates, making over $100k p/m. He also shares insights on consistency, growing on YouTube, going niche, and building a streaming service called Nebula. The discussion covers productivity tools, revenue sources, and their journey in finding the right payment platform.