When You Feel Like Giving Up. The Three “Justs” Rule for New Creators

Being an aspiring creator isn't easy. You might think that making videos, snapping photos, and ultimately having talent is all it takes for a social media career—since there's usually no interviews or diplomas needed. But when your videos go unseen, and the hard work feels wasted, it's tough. Unfortunately, many creators get discouraged and simply quit.

Meet Grigoriy Geniyevskiy, a UK-based photographer and videographer with 1.5 million followers whose tutorials are watched by thousands of people. But just a few years ago, when Grigoriy first started posting videos on TikTok, he also doubted himself and felt down seeing his like counts. 

What kept his spirits up? As we discovered during our Prequel Live interview, it was the Three “Justs” Rule. Here, we’re sharing it along with Grigoriy’s other tips on creating memorable videos, setting goals, and growing your subscriber base.

Just start

You don’t need a special place, special circumstances. Start creating from anywhere. I'm from a small village in the southwest of Ireland. There, in my bedroom, I started editing with just a phone and software. Things began to grow during COVID-19, when I found myself confined to that room, and working on my videos and photos all days long.

Just keep going

Yeah, it’s a classic thing to say, but you’ve just gotta keep going and uploading. And one video is bound to pop off. Then, if your previous content is already high quality or in a good state, people will see it and stay with you. So it just takes one video to go viral to make a big impact.

Just post it

Be proud of your work. When it’s done, just post it. Especially when you’re starting off, you might think, “Oh, it’s not good enough to show,” or “Nobody will like it.” I also used to worry about what people would think of my works in the beginning, but I learned to just upload them anyway

Experiment and try new things

You’ll never know what you enjoy until you try. It took four years in college for me to understand my strengths and weaknesses. It turned out, I love film and photography, and had always been interested in creating visually weird, surrealistic images.

Opening TikTok was a major turning point, and initially I started out making unrelated comedy videos as I felt intimidated by so many technical things connected with film and photography.

But once I went on and tried showcasing my photography skills on TikTok to see if anyone would like my photos. At first, no one was really watching my stuff. But you keep doing it, especially if you enjoy it. If it’s different from what others are posting, it should do well. And it did!

That’s how I found what I like to do—by doing what I enjoy and making it different from everyone else’s.

Learn from others

There are so many people out there creating and experimenting with different tools and edits. Whether browsing Instagram or TikTok, seeing what others are doing differently, you're always learning. If anything, it's like constantly moodboarding every second, every minute—it's a way of life.

Here are a few favorites of mine:

One of the biggest right now is Jordi Koalitic. He creates practical yet surreal photography edits using props and different equipment to make extraordinary images. He has over 20 million followers and has done some incredible work. 

Another is Oswaldo Cepeda, who uses light to evoke strong emotions. You literally feel them, looking at his photos.

And then there's Peter McKinnon, who was the first photographer I ever watched on YouTube. His tutorials got me into Photoshop, starting with simple editing tasks like removing objects from photos. He's been a great inspiration.

Start with a small niche

If you're just starting out, focus on a specific niche where you can consistently create content. For example, on my page, what really gained traction were these emotive portraits where I'd capture different emotions like confusion and others. Find that one thing that works for you and stick with it. 

As you gain traction, you can gradually expand your niche, add new things to attract people with different interests. For example, some of my followers are into surrealism, others are into simplicity, etc.

Create simple, emotionally engaging content

A lot of my work involves editing and creating surrealistic content. However, I've also started incorporating something simpler. People are very interested in straightforward effects. For example, those videos where you turn your phone upside down or experiment with long exposures. These simpler effects, which are easy to replicate, can perform really well, especially with platforms like TikTok where attention spans are short.

Use trends, but stay yourself

While keeping it simple, ensure your content is unique and stands out. Focus on creating a strong final effect, even if the concept itself is straightforward. The same goes for trends: it’s okay to follow them, but incorporate trends into your own style. Use trending music or elements and add your unique twist.

Set goals for production, not follower counts

It's good to set goals for yourself: they keep you motivated. However, some of them can seriously mess with your head, especially likes or follower goals, as it’s extremely easy to get fixated on numbers. When I started uploading TikToks, I'd feel really down if they didn't get as many views or likes.

So, for goals, focus on production—how much content you can create. Set a goal to upload a certain number of photos per week, month, or year, or to just take a photo this week and upload it.

This is an adaptation of a conversation as part of our Prequel Live series of interviews with our guest experts from the world of audiovisual production and creation. Follow us on IG @prequelapp to tune in for next installments.