If you didn’t already know, I have a Youtube channel! Though that is more commonplace than ever, it’s exciting and challenging for me every single day. It’s actually incredible how many people are watching Youtube. Take a guess. How many people do you think are logged in and visit the site each month? 100 million? More. 350 million? More. 800 million? More! The answer: 2 BILLION logged-in users visit Youtube each month. Madness!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVaO3-9dDkesDFAFrvqvcFg?view_as=subscriber?sub_confirmation=1
I’ve been making videos for just over a year now. A year already! It’s wild how fast the time has flown. While only about 30 videos are publicly viewable, about 2 dozen more are “Unlisted” which means they are only viewable if you have the link. These are mostly family videos. The old days of family holidays, birthdays, get-togethers, and milestones are going by the wayside since everyone just records 30-second clips on their phones. I plan to change that for our family.
The topics have largely been the same as what I’ve written about here on this blog. Exercise, home workouts, motivation, personal finance, investing basics, home buying tips, etc… But unlike the written word, a video is exponentially more difficult to produce. Not only do you need words to say, but you have to deliver them audibly in an engaging way, have a visible image worth looking at, AND edit it all together in some kind of cohesive and interesting fashion! Whew!
The challenge and the required learning has been SO FUN. Don’t get me wrong, my videos still are nearly unwatchable. Ha! My delivery is uncomfortable for me to watch at least. Plus my experimentation with different editing styles and cameras has meant the quality is questionable. BUT they are improving. I am improving. And it’s showing!
Youtube gives anyone who uploads a video access to incredible analytics. I LOVE them. Sometimes I wonder if the analytics are a large portion of my motivation to continue making videos. It’s just amazingly interesting to see how long people stay on a video, where they found you, how many people chose to watch (or not watch) that particular video, what topics people search for, and on and on.
So why make videos? Well it’s not for the acclaim and financial gain! I have 32 subscribers and have made exactly $0.00 from Youtube. In fact, I’m not on track to make money on Youtube ever. At this rate it would be decades before profits were possible. That’s a little painful to write actually. There are a lot of people making a lot of money on the platform. In fact, the number of creators making over $100k/year increased 40% year over year. It seems like a lot of topics are so simple and yet become wildly popular. Why couldn’t I tap into simple yet effective topics?
Well apparently (as most things in life) this is harder than it looks on the surface. Not only is a “decent” video actually INCREDIBLY difficult to make, but then getting the work done before and after the video itself rears it’s time consuming head! The research, set up, preparation, scripting, camera gear setup, and more all takes about 5x longer than I thought it would. I was wrong to assume it would take next to no time, but the reality was still a shock. Then the video is filmed and the real work begins.
After filming/recording, you have to edit. And video editing is literally it’s own craft. One of the unexpected and much appreciated side perks of making these videos has been a newfound appreciation for all things video. Learning about the sheer amount of work, intentionality, preparation, expertise, and effort that goes into major movie productions is absolutely amazing. There are people who are not only video editors for a living, they are even more specialized. Some people are experts in color. “Colorists” are some of the most important people in a production.
The amount of effort that is possible to work into even a 1 minute video is amazing. Or depressing? I don’t know. Because the headroom is almost endless I feel the pressure to spend as much time and energy as possible to attempt to accomplish something like acceptable levels of quality. The pursuit continues, because nothing has really been successful so far.
Why write about it? Well, frankly I want you to read this and know that a more engaging option exists and that you should check it out for yourself. Tell me what’s good or bad about the videos or better yet, save yourself the time and just tell me what you want to see in the future.
Plans for future videos include:
- Net vs Gross
- Roth IRA basics
- Traditional IRA basics
- Roth IRA vs Traditional IRA
- 401k basics
- 401k vs Roth IRA
- 401k vs Traditional IRA
- “Before you Invest” checklist
- How I read 46 books in 2019 in my spare time. For free!
- Digital minimalism
- Credit card churning
- Apple Card review
- Goal Setting Masterclass
- Basics of Google Sheets
- How to build a budget in Google Sheets
- $2k Passive Income experiment (ring any bells? Its what most of my blog posts have been about here!)
- What to do with your 401k after changing jobs
- My personal finance journey
- Personal Capital review
- M1 Finance Review
- Robinhood Review
- Ally Bank Review
- 100 push-ups per day for 30 days
- And many more
So, what’s the takeaway? Well, I feel like anyone can and possibly should make a Youtube channel for themselves. But approach it with the perspective of having fun and learning. If it catches on and grows, great! I plan to do just that. Also, trying anything new and outside your comfort zone is a great way to foster growth. Having to speak in front of a camera then show the results to the world has been like another public speaking class for me. It’s wonderful and terrible! I highly recommend it! At the same time I also feel like maybe Youtube is not great for someone to just “try” because it is so incredibly competitive. I heard from another Youtuber that last year 7 million new accounts were made. And that every second 887 videos are uploaded. That is an obscene amount of competition. You almost have to be interested in something incredibly obscure and interesting to stand a chance.
In any case, check out some videos here and leave me a comment to let me know you’re a blog reader!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVaO3-9dDkesDFAFrvqvcFg?view_as=subscriber?sub_confirmation=1
Abacus Fitness and Money 