Hello, everyone, and welcome back to “The Jim Kroft Podcast”, where creativity meets solopreneurship.
This week's special guest is Arnulfur Hakonarson, aka "That Icelandic Guy," who has grown his YouTube channel to 170K subscribers and his Instagram to over 300K.
IN SHORT:
📈 Arnulfur’s strategy for searchable, impactful YouTube content.
🧠 Mindset, consistency, and the journey from zero to viral.
🎭 The blend of education and fun in his content creation.
🚀 Launching and scaling a channel with strategic insights.
💡 Generating ideas and overcoming the saturation in digital platforms.
Today's episode is a comprehensive guide on starting YouTube, packed with Arnulfur's unique insights—from Titles and Thumbnails to content batching, using bullet points instead of scripts, finding your niche, and juggling YouTube with family life.
During it, he grills me on my own
YouTube channel with hilarious (and encouraging!) tough love -
“…push out content, learn from your mistakes and do it again!”
The episode is especially inspiring for anyone who’s older or feels they are coming too late to the creator economy:
“…today is the best day to start!”
My conversation with Arnulfur is a rip-roaring masterclass on YouTube, the digital economy and Solopreneurship, and will leave you feeling like everything is possible.
Are you ready? Then, let’s dive in!
Your host, Jim
LINKS
Jim Kroft
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EXPANDED
- How to create searchable, impactful YouTube content that stands out.
- Strategies for consistent content creation and achieving viral growth on YouTube.
- Educational and entertaining content creation tips that engage and retain viewers.
- Best practices for launching and scaling a YouTube channel, including technical tips on titles, thumbnails, and content batching.
- Overcoming digital platform saturation: Innovative ideas for carving out your niche.
- Balancing content creation with family life, offering inspiration for creators at any stage of life.
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
What is The Creative Life — with Jim Kroft?
🎙️ The Creative Life — with Jim Kroft
This podcast is for creatives who’ve chosen the long road.
Each week, I take one aspect of the creative life — a breakthrough, a challenge, or a tool that’s helping me — and share what I’m learning from the inside.
I started the show because I couldn’t find what I needed: a companion for the real challenges of making art while building a life around it.
The podcast swings between the psychological traps we face and the practical tools that keep me going. It moves between mindset and method — but always comes back to how we keep showing up.
I’m Jim, your host. I’ve lived a long life in the arts — full of meteoric highs and humbling lows.
Here are a few stops from the journey:
🎸 Released 7 records — from major labels to van tours
🎥 Filmed 6 feature docs, screened at 200+ festivals
🧠 Built a creative business in Berlin since 2013
✍️ Top 1% on Substack for weekly consistency
📈 Raised nearly €100K for refugee & Ukraine war efforts
🎧 The Creative Life has hit the Apple Podcast charts
Thanks for being here,
Jim
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