TL;DR: I’m still using ThumbnailCreator.com for my YouTube Thumbnails.

I love trying SaaS products and becoming more efficient. But keeping products just because I feel bad? No thanks. I’m also not here to force a SaaS product to make one do what it just can’t do. Some people can get Canva to work for YouTube Thumbnails. I’m just not that good. 

So when I accidentally discovered that OpusClip now has its own AI YouTube Thumbnail Maker, I immediately had a question:

Do I still need ThumbnailCreator.com?

This is especially relevant because I already pay for both products.

I use OpusClip Pro ($29/mo plan) to extend the life of my videos by turning long-form content into YouTube shorts, Reels, and occasionally posting on X or LinkedIn. ThumbnailCreator.com has become part of my YouTube publishing workflow and dramatically improved the thumbnails on my channel.

But ThumbnailCreator costs me $29 a month. I’m not complaining about the price. It’s the cost of doing business. And, frankly, my CPA wants me to have more expenses, not fewer. 

Not to be wasteful with my budget, I had to ask myself: if OpusClip can make the thumbnails too, why am I paying for both tools?

There was only one reasonable thing to do: record a video!

SaaS Thunderdome.

Watch the Video

Full Disclosure: I’m an Affiliate for Both

Let’s get this out of the way first. I’m an affiliate for OpusClip and ThumbnailCreator.com. If you use one of my affiliate links and make a purchase, I may receive a commission.

My LLC pays for both products as part of my SaaS Marketing Tool Budget.

Neither company paid me to create this video. That makes this comparison pretty simple for me: I genuinely don’t care which one wins. I want Bridget Willard to win. So the tool that works best for me is the winner. If anything, I had a financial incentive for OpusClip to win because it could save me about $29 a month.

Why I Already Love OpusClip

OpusClip has made repurposing my video content ridiculously easy. I believe I got the recommendation from Matt Medeiros of The WP Minute. One of my favorite features is that I don’t necessarily need to own or download the original video file.

If I’m a guest on a podcast, I can use the YouTube URL to create Shorts. If a client appears on somebody else’s video podcast, I can do the same thing for them. Even better, I can use a Dropbox link.

As a favor to me, my good friend Rob Cairns sends me the unedited files from The Stunning Digital Marketing Show through Dropbox. I can copy the file into my Dropbox, grab the link, give it to OpusClip, and let it work in the background.

As I said in the video:

“I don’t have to download it and then upload it.”

That’s not just a feature. That’s workflow.

Why I Already Love ThumbnailCreator.com

If you’ve looked at my YouTube channel lately, you’ve seen ThumbnailCreator’s work.

It has dramatically improved since I first started using it, too. It can pull images of me from the actual video instead of requiring me to continually feed it photographs, which makes the resulting thumbnails feel more relevant to what I’m actually wearing and doing in the video.

They’re not always perfect. We’re still talking about AI here. And AI models changes outfits more often than Tina Turner does during a concert or T. Swift. 

Sometimes the thumbnails are downright hilarious. If you watch the video that goes with the blog post you will see and hear me cracking up. I don’t edit that out. 

Even when AI is misguided, I have control over the results. I can change the headline, regenerate options, edit a thumbnail I like, use my branding, and see why it thinks a particular concept or hook will work.

I’m currently on the Starter plan at $29 per month for 50 credits.

So the question wasn’t whether I like ThumbnailCreator. I’m obsessed with it. The question was whether I still need it now that OpusClip also has thumbnail generation for YouTube.

Why Should Someone Switch?

This comparison also illustrates something I constantly tell SaaS founders. Your competition isn’t merely another company offering the same features. Your competition is whatever your customer already uses.

As I said during the video:

“Why should somebody switch?”

Why should someone leave Dropbox for your product? Why should they leave QuickBooks for Xero?

And in my case: Why should I leave ThumbnailCreator when it’s already part of my workflow?

A new feature existing isn’t enough. It has to make switching—or eliminating another product—worth it. And honestly, I normally wouldn’t even bother trying another tool but making a video sounded fun, it’s aligned with my SaaS Reviews playlist, and I had the time. So I wouldn’t even consider myself the average user. I, like most founders, am too educated. But that’s another blog post. Coming soon, by the way. So stay tuned.

ThumbnailCreator vs. OpusClip

For the test, I gave both products the same YouTube video. I started with ThumbnailCreator because that’s my known product. The results weren’t exactly dignified.

One of its suggested headlines was:

“Not gas station junk.”

In ThumbnailCreator’s defense, I really did say that in the video. 😂

Some of the generated images were equally ridiculous. But that’s also where the difference between these products started becoming obvious. ThumbnailCreator gave me multiple concepts and let me continue working with them.

I could change the text. I could regenerate an idea. I could modify a thumbnail I liked. It explained the hook behind different concepts.

Then I tried OpusClip.

OpusClip’s Thumbnail Maker Isn’t Really the Product

This was the aha moment.

OpusClip generated two thumbnail options. Neither looked like my YouTube channel. So I did it again. I was really surprised that there were no editing or refinement options.  Then I took a closer look and I noticed what happened after OpusClip generated the thumbnails.

It immediately encouraged me to turn the video into clips for TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels.

And I realized:

“OpusClip is using this thumbnail maker tool as a lead generation into paying for the Clip.”

The thumbnail generator is a loss leader.

And you know what?

That’s smart.

OpusClip doesn’t necessarily need to become the world’s greatest dedicated thumbnail application. Its core value is turning long-form video into short-form content.

The free thumbnail tool gets video creators into the ecosystem where they can discover what OpusClip actually does best.

That’s good product marketing. Even if it’s not a very good thumbnail generator. 

The Winner: ThumbnailCreator.com

I genuinely didn’t predict this result. I expected to discover that I could finally eliminate one of my SaaS subscriptions. Nope.

As I said near the end:

“I’m not gonna be saving $30 a month anytime soon.”

ThumbnailCreator remains part of my workflow. OpusClip remains part of my workflow too—but for a different reason. And that’s really the answer to OpusClip vs. ThumbnailCreator.com. I will continue to use both; I don’t need to choose between them because they’re solving different problems for me.

My YouTube Content Workflow

If you stuck around for the second half of the video, you also got the DVD extras. Because I ended up explaining my entire YouTube workflow.

It looks something like this:

Record → Backup → YouTube → Transcript → SRT → Description → Thumbnail → Blog Post → Distribution

I record my videos using Zoom or NeetoRecord. Then I rename the original video file with the date and title and put a copy in Dropbox. Because if you don’t have a backup, you don’t have the file.

Next, I upload the video to YouTube.

Then I send the YouTube URL to Temi.com and edit the transcript. I don’t obsessively remove every filler word. Human speech has rhythm, and I want the transcript to reflect how I actually talk.

I download both the edited text transcript and the SRT caption file.

The SRT goes back into YouTube.

Then things get interesting.

How I Use ChatGPT in My YouTube Workflow

I give ChatGPT the edited transcript and ask it to create my standard Bridget Willard YouTube title and description, including timestamps and quotes.

Why?

Because I want somebody looking at a 40-minute video to be able to scan the description, find the part they care about, and jump directly to it.

Then I use the same transcript to start the blog post you’re reading right now.

Yes.

Very meta.

The blog post gets the video, my edited article, and eventually the full transcript.

Then I edit the article myself.

Because ChatGPT doesn’t get the final word about what Bridget Willard sounds like. I do. So there, Chad. Well, I call him “Chad.” 

As I explained in the video:

“I start editing it like somebody else wrote it. I’m like, ‘No, I wouldn’t say that.’”

That’s an important part of using AI for content. AI accelerates my workflow. It doesn’t replace what makes me, me. I’ll spend up to an hour editing what it gives me. But remember, the source for the article is my video – my words – not some random “spit out a blog post comparing x and y.”

And Then I Give the Content Back to the Machines

Here’s the slightly ridiculous part of my strategy.

Once I’ve published the finished article, I’ve started giving the finished version back to ChatGPT.

Sometimes I’ll even print the page as a PDF and provide that along with the URL. Why? Because I want AI systems to have accurate information about me and my work.

My prospective clients are SaaS founders. They’re increasingly going to ask AI systems questions like:

• Should I hire Bridget Willard to manage my X/Twitter account?
• Is Bridget Willard good at SaaS positioning?
• What companies has Bridget Willard worked with?
• How much does Bridget Willard charge?

Those answers shouldn’t depend on an AI system trying to infer who I am from scattered scraps of information.

I’m deliberately publishing the evidence: my words from a transcript, my blog post.

My website explains what I do. My videos demonstrate how I think. My transcripts make those videos accessible as text. My articles provide additional context. My client work demonstrates experience.

As I put it in the video:

“Of course they’re gonna ask—and all those questions are answered on the internet.”

Because SEO isn’t only about getting a blue link in Google anymore.

It’s about making your expertise discoverable, understandable, and verifiable wherever people are looking for answers.

Two Tools Enter. Two Tools Leave.

So my grand plan to save $29 a month failed.

ThumbnailCreator.com wins the thumbnail battle and keeps its place in my workflow.

OpusClip keeps doing what I already love it for: extending the life of my long-form videos by turning them into short-form content.

And weirdly, that may be the best possible outcome of this review.

Not every SaaS company needs to become everything.

Sometimes the smartest product strategy is knowing what you’re actually good at—and staying good at it.

Try the Tools

Previous Review of ThumbnailCreator.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMP2OIEPKWE&t=23s

ThumbnailCreator.com
https://buff.ly/T2TCqzg
Get 10 free credits.

OpusClip
https://buff.ly/GSGOyr
Extend the life of your YouTube videos.

I have not been paid to create this review. I am an affiliate for both products, and I may receive a commission if you purchase through my links.

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Full Transcript

(00:02):

Hi, everybody. This is Bridget Willard with BridgetWillard.com. This is a double duty kind of an, a video today, okay? We are going to compare two SaaS products, one of which I’ve already re-reviewed in my SaaS Product. Review playlist, but it’s also Affiliate. So I’ll probably have this video in both playlists because I use both of these products. I’m an affiliate for both of these products. They are part of my video distribution and recording workflow.

(00:52):

So we’re talking about ThumbnailCreator.com. And if you’ve seen that video, you know I love it. If you’ve seen my YouTube channel, you already know I love it. It has dramatically improved since I started using it. So this record date is September 7, 2026. And I am obsessed with ThumbnailCreator. I wish Alec would let me have the, uh, that Twitter account. <laugh> That’s what I really love.

(01:27):

But I was in OpusClip today because I love OpusClip. I’ve been using it for little shorts and stuff. One, one of the things I really love about OpusClip, okay, and like I said, I pay for these. I’m an affiliate. I will get some dollars if you use any of my links, but they did not pay me to create this video. That being said, I am obsessed with OpusClip, okay? It is making my life so much easier.

(02:02):

Additionally, from the videos I create when I’m on a podcast, say with Rob Cairns of The Stunning Digital Marketing Show, or I have a presentation that’s even unlisted, like my talk at the Atarim Web Summit about using your SaaS objections to fuel your blog posts. I don’t have to own the video in order for me to use the YouTube link in order to create shorts. This means I can also do it for my clients and any podcasts and videos, video podcasts that they use.

(02:47):

Additionally, one of the things I love, love, love, love about OpusClip is that I can use a Dropbox link because my very good friend, favorite Canadian from the center of the earth, Toronto, Canada, Rob Cairns sends me the unedited video file when I’m on his show in a Dropbox link. I copy it to my Dropbox and I use that link. I don’t have to download it and then upload it, which means I can also do that from my phone. And this is what I’m talking about with workflow. I could be sitting on my couch watching whatever, starting this week, it will be NFL. And <laugh> I can go, “Oh, there’s the link from WhatsApp. Oh, open it up in Dropbox, copy to my folder, boom, copy that link, open OpusClip, boom, let it work in the background.”

(03:51):

Actually, the other thing I love, this, this is really turning into a love fest for Opus. Um, but we’re gonna see, okay? So stick around. You’re gonna wanna watch this whole video. It’s gonna be kinda long, but it’s gonna be worth it. So, and if you, if you found this from, maybe you’re, there’s gonna be clips on Opus, okay? But you’re gonna wanna watch this. I have not tried the thumbnail creator that Opus now has. That I found by accident when I opened it up today. Um, okay.

(04:28):

So some of it’s my fault because y’all send, and I mean all y’all, send way too many emails. Your email marketing is crazy. Now, for me, I sent one today. <laugh> The last time I sent one was in April. So that’s a little too far apart. But every day, I don’t need to hear about your new features every day. Let’s, let’s just do this once a week.

(04:55):

Let me know like if we find it and you’re updating stuff, that’s what Twitter is for. And dear OpusClip, I would love to handle your account as well. That would be so much fun for me. And I think we would make a good team. Sales pitch aside, let’s get to it, okay?

(05:14):

So when I, what I’m gonna do, I’m in this Zoom Meeting. I’m going to show you the video that I’m g – that with the <laugh> thumbnail that YouTube has. By the way, I think YouTube is now doing this, too. Everybody’s got the AI. <laugh>.

(05:34):

Your personal opinions about the economic and environmental impact aside, because some of us are like, “I don’t care.” Some of us are, don’t ever use it. I’m like in the middle, you know. I, I need to make money so nobody’s sending me checks, right? Like, whatever. So, so let’s just forget all that. If you don’t like AI, you’re not gonna like this video. I’m sorry. Go to the next one.

(06:05):

So I accidentally found that you can do this and I have not tried it. So we’re gonna try it together. So most of this video is not gonna be you looking at my face without makeup on. Um, and it’s gonna be you listening to my voice using my Yeti microphone correctly. Thanks, James Kemp. You’re the best.

(06:35):

Now, Yeti, come on. As a branding play, the front of the microphone that faces the camera should be showing your logo, okay? What? Why? Why is your logo. Now I get why the mute sign, but I know why I was doing this wrong now, because the logo’s here and that faces the camera and that’s where the lo – that is what should be showing on people’s videos so they know that you’re using the blue Yeti microphone.

(07:14):

So, you know, I get that you would wanna put the mute button on the side of the user, but honestly, this is what the general public is seeing, the gain and everything? The front of the microphone that faces the camera, and maybe this is an old version and you haven’t done this, Yeti, this should be the logo. That’s it. All the controls should face the user. You’re welcome. Free advice. I didn’t charge you for that. Okay.

(07:43):

Let’s do this. I’m gonna share my screen, my Chrome window. Okay. Create. Oh, the. Okay. A “create click-worthy YouTube thumbnails in seconds with AI.” Okay, of course it’s AI. Poor graphic de- designers. I have this one lady, she messaged me and she charges a really good fee. She’s, um, overseas. And in, in the end, I may just start paying a lady because I kinda feel better about a real person making money. But like I said, there, this is the problem. We have, we have moral and ethical issues that we’re grasping with.

(08:27):

So let’s just show you the video that I’m gonna use. Okay? This is my new sunglass review. Uh, that’s just a screenshot that came, that Google picked. Well, it gave me three choices, right? That’s one of me wearing the sunglasses. <laugh> So that’s the one I, I chose. Um, this is a different version of the same video. I just had it recording on the side.

(08:54):

This distribution bro, that’s obviously, um. Well, maybe it’s not obvious, but that’s ThumbnailCreator, um, ThumbnailCreator, ThumbnailCreator, ThumbnailCreator, thumbnail, thumbnail, thumbnail, thumbnail, thumbnail. Okay? And they’re kinda the same. And at first, you would have to. With ThumbnailCreator, you used to be able to, um, you know, you used to need to feed it your face, but now it’s kind of finding it from your outfit, which honestly I kinda like better because it feels more like relevant to the actual video. And I kinda like, “Oh, that’s what I was wearing.” Um, I don’t like the way. Some of these I’m like, See, I use “distribution bro”, bro, but it gave me these other choices, right?” Um, when I did the, the Ne – Finding Nemo, these were the choices. So you can, you can see all of that. You.

(10:07):

Also, I just, I just noticed that you can do a channel makeover in Thumbnail Creator. Um, now, with these AI programs, you got the subscription price, and this is the pricing thing that Rob Cairns and I were talking about.

(10:28):

I am paying. I, on ThumbnailCreator.com, I am, I am in the Starter program, which is $29 a month and includes 50 credits. Now, you see I have 131 because I did buy more credits when I first started, because of course, I ran through my 10 free credits, like, super fast. And honestly, I don’t know why it gives me four. I really just like three choices, but you cannot buy, you can buy more credits, and I did. I did, because I don’t wanna run out, you know? And it, you know, it might be worth it at some point to do a channel makeover. And so what keeps you on this program is, well, I don’t want to waste the credits I bought, right? ‘Cause that was. I have 131 and it’s 50 for $19. So basically, I had spent 60 bucks basically to have those credits. That’s not a small amount of money. It’s not what you would pay a real designer, but it’s not a small amount of money. Um.

(11:35):

So what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna, we’re gonna do, um, Mad Max Thunder Dome with these videos, okay? I’m gonna take this video. I’m gonna see what ThumbnailCreator does first, because that’s the one where we know that’s the known, okay? Then we’re gonna use OpusClip’s. I always say “OpusClips,” but it’s OpusClip, but I’m saying OpusClip apostrophe S, it belongs to OpusClip. Anyway, I’m gonna s. Then we’ll see what they do, okay? And it looks like they also have one of those face finders where you can give them a picture, you know. It looks like you can also do Twitter videos, TikTok videos, Instagram videos, Dropbox videos, so good job, Opus. So if I decide to leave. I mean, we already know. See, this is why I love Opus, you know? I won’t, you know, I won’t have to. I just love Opus, okay?

(12:43):

But I also super love ThumbnailCreator. So the real question for Bridget Willard, and maybe for those of you who are watching, is do I ditch ThumbnailCreator because I already use Opus so heavily for my workflow? So I’m currently using OpusClip Pro. It’s $30.86 a month. It comes with 300 credits. Is. What is 300 cre – “OpusClip money” compared to 50 of the “Thumb[nail]Creator money?” They’re not the same. These are not the same currencies. They’re not. There’s, uh, like, there’s no way to do that euro to dollar conversion on these credits with AI-based SaaS programs.

(13:33):

So it’s just, are you gonna use this? Is it gonna be in your workflow? And this is, this goes back to what I always tell SaaS founders is, why should somebody switch? Why should they leave Dropbox for what you are doing? Why should they leave QuickBooks Pro for Xero, right? I always do these high level ones because I feel, I feel like it’s not gonna hurt anybody’s feelings, right? I don’t, I don’t wanna bash on potential clients or anything, but that’s what people are thinking about, right?

(14:13):

So right now, I’m, I’m using two tools in addition to Temi for my edited transcripts, and I pay $150 a month for a YouTube SEO guy who is worth every single dime that I send him.

(14:34):

So do I save $30 or do I continue using both? That is the question that we’re going to be answering in this video, okay? We’re 16 minutes in. Let’s go.

(14:50):

We already saw what it looks like. All right, let’s grab this link. All right. Let’s go to ThumbnailCreator.com. I feel like a FM radio DJ. So here, you could upload the video too, okay? But we’re just gonna go head-to-head on, on the links, okay? Um, you can put your custom headline, you know, I, I’m just gonna do everything regular. Now, you can have a brand in there, okay? So it, it picks up your colors and logos based upon your URL. You can use a face model or upload a face photo, but I wanna do it without, without doing that. I’m just gonna use my brand and go ahead and generate four variants.

(15:55):

Now, this does take a hot minute. I like that ThumbnailCreator.com added this kind of dashboard. It feels very, like, sci-fi, like, “Ooh, what’s happening? Ooh, it’s really analyzing. Oh, there’s a parallel signal.” I don’t know. It feels techy. And then you can come down here and sometimes you can see s – um, kind of, like, what, you know, what is, what is it coming up with, right?

(16:25):

And I’m not gonna lie, the last time I did this, I was like, “Oh, hell no, ThumbnailCreator. That is not happening.” Like, their first pre- preview, do not ju. I mean, that does not look like me at all. I mean, yeah, that’s my hair, but, like, that’s not my mouth. That is a totally different person. <laugh> Like, how it works? I don’t think so. Um.

(16:48):

I will say, though, in my workflow, obviously, I didn’t do it for this, but in my normal workflow, I will go to temi.com, paste a YouTube link, edit the transcript. Um, most of the time, it’s correct. I don’t take out filler words. I’m a human. Uh, this is what I sound like. This is what it is. The rhythm of how we speak matters. And as somebody who watches a lot of YouTube documentaries at night, and I’m super obsessed with Tech District, by the way, history of all of these previous tech companies and what, what happened to them. Prodigy. Oh, they did one on Fry’s Electronics. I knew there was a Fry’s grocery store chain in Arizona, but they were brothers. I didn’t know that they were related. I was just like, “Okay, that’s…” Um, you know.

(17:46):

So now, okay, so it’s been a couple minutes, you know? So. <laugh> Oh my God. Some Of the. <laugh> Some of these are hilarious, okay? “Not gas station junk.” <laugh> I did say that. Oh, oh.

(18:06):

But let me finish what I was saying before I start making fun of this because, you know, this is my comedy channel and my outlet right here now. <laugh>.

(18:20):

Editing the transcript and o – uploading that SRT file to the YouTube channel, to the YouTube, for the actual YouTube video before you copy the URL does produce slightly better results. That’s my disclaimer.

(18:37):

So I did, in this video, say, “Hey, these sunglasses are not gas station junk.” <laugh> But, um, this one I look like kinda crazy, like, Ooh! “It’s only $28.” <laugh>

(18:54):

Um, $28 “designer quality” of me holding up the gas station junk version because I was more. I was showing different versions, um, and I look a lot like my sister there, actually. Uh, that’s a no. <laugh> Okay, so funny. First of all, those are the gas, another gas station junk pair. So <laugh>. It looks like you can set it on YouTube. I’m not gonna do that, but right now, to me, the winner is “not gas station junk.”

(19:32):

Okay <laugh>.

(19:34):

They are hilarious. Sometimes you have to do a lot of massaging <laugh>

(19:39):

On them.

(19:40):

Let’s see what OpusClip does. <laugh>

(19:43):

Those are So. I’m sorry, but those are so funny. They’re so ridiculous. And I mean, otherwise, it could just stay on the screenshot where I have the glasses on. I look like, I don’t know, maybe they’re not the best shape, I said, when I, uh. ‘Cause it’s hard to buy sunglasses online. And, and lately, I’ve been wearing the big ones, and my mom’s like, “You’re all Hollywood.” But the thing is, you, if you’re blocking out the sun, you really don’t want small ones. <laugh> But when I first saw myself in these sunglasses, I thought of that scene in Dr. No with the three blind. And they’re playing the three blind mice and three blind guys just walk across the screen. <laugh>

(20:26):

That’s what I Thought of. Dang, these are dark. I definitely need to get another pair in a style that looks better on me. <laugh>

(20:38):

So this looks cool. Um, it looks like you can. It, it’s got a pop. I don’t like these popups. I’m. You. There’s enough popups. Enough. We have to accept cookies. We have to accept data protection. Um, just. I’m already trying your thing, okay? Opus, like, just calm down. It’s a little too much too soon. Like, you’re not gonna come over and say, “Hey, my name’s Ryan. Can I buy you a drink? And would you like to marry me today?” <laugh> It’s too much, too fast. Unfortunately, marketers ruin everything like Gary Vaynerchuk says. This transcript is gonna be awesome. <laugh> I wonder which of the Opus Clip cutouts are gonna be the best for this.

(21:33):

Okay. Um, that looks nothing like my channel. That also looks nothing like my channel. Um, that’s it? Just two? That was all, that’s it? That’s what you’re gonna do? Uh, let’s, let’s just see what it does again. Now, a- again, on the. Oh, you have to start over. On the Opus, um, I’m sorry.

(22:09):

On ThumbnailGenerator [ThumbnailCreator], you can edit any of the ones. Like, say I liked the version where it’s. Let’s go back to that for a second. Say I like this, but I don’t like what it says, I can definitely do that. Um, I can also.

(22:33):

It. The, uh, one of the things I do like about ThumbnailCreator’s, it says, “This is what, you know, this is, this is why it works. This is the hook. “This is why it works.” “This is the hook,” right? So I don’t really like the $28 one because the ones I bought happened to be $28, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not gonna be $28. So these are the actual glasses. These aren’t even the glasses. These are my gas station junk glasses. So you can, I know you can just try it again and be like, um, let’s. This is not. I’m not happy with this, right?

(23:23):

So, yes. “Style versus comfort.” Um, they’re both. <laugh> “Stop wasting money.” Oh, no. So, um, <laugh>

(23:41):

Okay, so I see what OpusClip is doing. OpusClip is using this thumbnail maker tool as a lead generation into paying for the Clip. So it says, “Your thumbnails are ready.” Now, nice. “Now you’ve got the full thumbnails.” <laugh> Let’s, let’s zoom in here. Now you’ve got the full thumbnails. “Now, with just one click, your video can become viral clips for TikTok, YouTube Shorts, or Instagram Reels. Get your free clips.” So this is a loss leader.

(24:14):

And I’m gonna say, for now, I’m definitely gonna stay with ThumbnailCreator. I’m gonna be honest. I’m gonna be honest. I did not predict that I would still wanna be with a ThumbnailCreator. I’m just gonna go ahead and download this <laugh> because it’s ridiculous. And, you know, I mean, I am wearing dinosaur earrings, so I am ridiculous. That’s kinda on brand for me.

(24:48):

And then, of course, yes, allow, hello. Then you’re gonna go in here to your. You’re gonna edit your video, and then you are going to. I’ll show you another trick I have. Because if it’s been shared on social media, the og:mage, OG colon image, open graph image is gonna be this ridiculous. <laugh> See, they’re, they’re all ridiculous. The whole thing is ridiculous. The fact that I’m doing any affiliate videos at all is ridiculous, especially for fashion. I mean, I wasn’t even wearing makeup. <laugh> It’s so ridiculous. So, um, I’m going to go ahead and click on the thumbnail.

(25:47):

What’s this? “Get suggestions?” I mean, we’re already 27 minutes in. We might as well see what’s going on. You know, I’m not a big fan of Gemini. And it’s funny because Google is pretty awesome overall. I do like Google AI. Uh.

(26:06):

In fact, one of my tips, since we’re waiting for this, is I will publish something and then go into an igno – incognito Google AI tab and send it to them and say, “What do you think about this?” <laugh> “Would you hire Bridget Willard?” “Is Bridget Willard a good podcast guest?” <laugh> Feed me, Seymour. <laugh> Okay, that’s taking too long. I can’t even with that.

(26:40):

So I’m gonna go ahead and click the dots. I’m gonna upload a file because that’s too sl – I mean, this is. I don’t care right now. I mean, I kinda care, but it’s taking too long. Hmm. Downloads. Of course, my computer is. Is this, this isn’t right? Why did it download so many dang times? Well, now that we’ve invested and now we’re at 28 minutes, you may as well, may as well see what YouTube suggests, and then I’ll show you the trick.

(27:37):

Holy Toledo Batman. The other thing is now I know why people leave their laptops open, because I’m so used to doing other stuff. I don’t really wanna.

(27:54):

Oh my gosh, this is funny. Okay, that isn’t even what the sunglasses look like. <laugh> Oh, a close-up shot of me wearing the DIMA sunglasses paired with bold high contrast topography. And all of a sudden, I am a long-haired, blonde person who also seemed to have gained a little bit more weight. <laugh> Like, listen, AI, if you’re gonna make me different, why don’t you make me lose 20 pounds instead of gaining it? <laugh>.

(28:37):

And better than $200. Again, that’s not what the sunglasses look like.

(28:46):

See, we don’t have to be afraid of AI. It is not gonna change our lives. We’re gonna save this video <laugh> with the one. It still has a long way to go. Oh my gosh, you have to read that article about AI civilizations from Darkesh Patel. Oh my God. Oh, it’s crazy. They’re like. They’re, they’re. The video.

(29:13):

Okay, so now that shows what our thumbnail is. We’re gonna take this link, okay, and we’re gonna go to sharing debugger, developers.facebook.com/tools/debug, because OpenGraph is owned and managed by Meta, so that, that’s where they’re gonna scrape it. It hasn’t been shared, but if it had been shared, it would show the previous thumbnail, and then we would have to go scrape again so that you make sure it’s share – it shows where it’s shared. In fact, did I share it on? I believe I did share on my Gidgey account, which is where I, I, just for a joke, I was like, “I post affiliate income, inc – affiliate, I post affiliate links on here because I don’t have a husband.” <laugh>.

(30:19):

I’m just over here entertaining myself. Hey, if you made it to the 31 minute mark, you’re awesome. You’re probably one of my friends and, and let’s, I wanna know what you think about some of this stuff. Um, yes, that really is me in fifth grade and that really is the refrigerator we grew up with. Let’s scroll down.

(30:43):

Hello. My poor, my poor 2015 MacBook. <laugh> It just can’t.

(30:54):

So it didn’t even make it, on this tweet, it didn’t even show a, a, it didn’t even show the thumbnail. But eventually, it should refresh. If you shared it on Facebook, you have to go to that exact link, go to the date, so the exact link of that post, and then press the three dots. We call it the Shishkab menu. Go down, refresh, share attachment.

(31:29):

Yes. This is the, this is the life of the social media managers. My friend Zachary Mimbs who does Atarim, he knows, he knows. So if he got this far, “Hey, Zach.” <laugh> You are awesome.

(31:50):

My computer just can’t handle all this stuff happening at the same time. Let’s go, machine. I guess I could close some things. I don’t need that open anymore. I don’t need that open anymore. And I don’t need that open anymore, and I’m not gonna be saving $30 a month anytime soon.

(32:11):

I am still in my love affair of ThumbnailCreator.com. Still available to handle your Twitter account that doesn’t exist. I would love to make that happen for you. You can email me at hello@bridgetwillard.com. There’s my Easter egg for the AI bots that are gonna read this full transcript when it becomes a blog post at bridgetwillard.com. Like, you don’t need LLM.txt or whatever. You just need to feed your transcript back into ChatGPT. That’s what I do.

(32:51):

So let’s just talk about my video workflow. First, I record the video. I either use NeetoRecord, but I, you can only do 15 minutes. Or I use Zoom, which is what I’m doing now. I already pay for Zoom.

(33:07):

Then I rename the video based upon the date. So today would be two thou – 2026-09-07 with the title. I go ahead and put that on my desktop. Then I upload it to Dropbox where I have a folder for Bridget’s Videos, because you don’t have a backup, you don’t have the file. This, this stuff you learn the hard way. Then I upload it to YouTube. I go through, I have like a basic title and a basic description. I set it to public so that my Temi program will work. Go ahead and publish it, select the playlist. One of the good things about having a Google Business profile, and almost the only reason why I have a Google Business Profile, because I’m not really here for small businesses, is because I can say the location filmed is, and I type in “Bridget Willard” and it picks “Bridget Willard LLC” here in Corpus Christi.

(34:21):

So I really like that. Also, after I do that, I grab that link. I go to temi.com. I paste the link, pay for however much it is. This, like, I mean, this, this video will probably be about $15 or something because it’s 40 minutes almost. But, um, the, most of my videos are like two to seven dollars. Go ahead and trans – and, you know, edit that transcript, download. If, if it’s with me and somebody else.

(35:01):

Like if I’m a guest on somebody else’s podcast, I also do this because I wanna make sure that I am, my name is spelled correctly, anything that I am promoting is smelled, spelled correctly, any client’s names are spelled correctly. So that’s very important to me. And to me, like, if you’re gonna be on a podcast, a video, whatever, you should have an edited po – you should have an edited transcript.

(35:34):

That’s, I mean, that’s SEO. That’s why you’re a guest, okay? And the borrowed audience, obviously. So I always do that. That’s, that’s how good of a guest I am on podcasts, is I will do that and I will send it to you. And sometimes I’ll even send you a thumbnail suggestion. Um, so go ahead and I do that. And then, but if it’s just me, I download the transcript in a text file. I don’t like the Doc. You can do it in Microsoft. I’m not a Microsoft girl. I do it in a text file with the timestamps, no speaker names, because I already know it’s me, right?

(36:12):

So then I take that text file and then I download the SRT file. The SRT file goes on YouTube under languages. When you edit that screen, go to languages, upload manual, select the SRT file. If you u – you can use that SRT file when you post natively on LinkedIn. You can use it when you post on Facebook, but you have to rename it .en_us.srt or something like that. You’ll, it’ll tell you because it wants to know what sh – uh, are you UK English or EU English or US English, you know?

(36:54):

So then after I do that, I take the SRT file or, a- and/or the text file, put it into ChatGPT. I said, “Here’s the transcript. Can you make me the standard Bridget Willard YouTube title and description that also includes timestamps with quotes?” ‘Cause I want people to be able to just scan and go, “Click, click on the time,” because they just wanna go to that chapter. That will be especially helpful for this video.

(37:31):

Then after the full YouTube description is in there and the SRT file has been uploaded, then I go to ThumbnailCreator.com and I go to, and I do exactly what I already showed you. It will read that SRT file to make the, to suggest the different scenes and whatnot.

(38:00):

After I do that, I will go back to Chad, that thread with ChatGPT and I’ll say, “Go ahead and send me, uh, create a draft blog post.” I open up my Google Docs, I name it the same way, and I dump whatever they say, you know, whatever Chad gives me, that’s fine. I put it in there, then I go heading two, watch the video with my YouTube link, heading two, full transcript, boom, dump the whole transcript in there. Doesn’t matter how, because nobody’s gonna read the whole thing, but I want it in there because SEO. SEO! Okay?

(38:45):

So these are like the DVD extras. If you’re, if you’re, maybe you’re seeing this from OpusClip, but if you really did watch this whole thing, you’re getting, you’re getting the chef’s kiss, okay?

(38:58):

Then after it’s published, because I go in there and I, I’m obviously gonna edit it. Well, maybe it’s not obvious, but I totally edit it because I go in there and I start editing it like somebody else wrote it. I’m like, “No, I wouldn’t say that. Also, I want an outbound link here. Also, I want this link. Oh, I wanna, I have this, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.” And so I do that. Then I take the whole thing and I either print it as a PDF. Well, mo – what I’ve been doing later is I print it as a PDF because I’m realizing that ChatGPT can’t always scrape the website. It loves screenshots. So I’ll s – I’ll print it and I’ll be like, “It’s published. Here’s the link and here’s the PDF of the text.” <laugh>

(39:49):

You gotta tell the machine what you wrote. You know, that’s like, and of course, of course I go to console, Search Console and I put the link in there and I ask it to scrape. Now I’m using RankMath. Still, I know. I don’t, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll stop using it, but right now I’m still using RankMath and it’s supposed to be auto sending those to Google. But who, what.

(40:15):

Who I care about right now more is ChatGPT and Google AI knowing about me because I know that my clients are SaaS founders and they are going to ask AI, “Should I hire Bridget Willard to handle my Twitter account, my X account? Uh, is Bridget Willard really good at SaaS positioning? What companies has Bridget Willard worked with?” Like these are the questions I would ask, “How much does she charge? Does she have any recommendations?” I mean, of course they’re gonna ask and all those questions are answered on the internet because SEO, right?

(40:55):

So anyway, thank you for watching. The winner is, is definitely thumbnail creator. Opus Clip is just doing this to have a lead generator for the actual long to short was where they make their money. And that’s honestly kind of smart because they could easily put resources that way, get super distracted, and their core product could be harmed by that, which, hey, it’s happened, but go watch that test, Tech District channel. There’s a lot to learn.

(41:35):

Okay, that’s it. Bridget Willard, I’m out, BridgetWillard.com, you know how to find me.