New viewer (and subscriber!). Thanks for this. I’ve been wanting to start a YT channel and I am currently obsessed with the idea of a niche. It’s amping up my imposter syndrome. I like the ideas you have for your own channel, and I might borrow them for inspiration.
Great video. Although I’ve barely started on RU-vid, I’ve been thinking along the same lines that you’ve described (must be something in the air 😅). I appreciated hearing your insights (especially given you have way more expertise than I do!). Thank you 💕
Thank you! Congratulations on starting your RU-vid channel! I just had a quick look at your channel and it looks like you're doing great! I love how personable you are in your "Starting RU-vid at 58" video. Keep being yourself and the right people will find you!
I think you made the classic gym membership mistake. If you push too hard, too fast, it's going to hurt. If anything, it's better to become a success once you have a big back catalogue. If you make it big with only a few videos, you won't achieve the stickiness you could if you had more product to sustain your audience. We all want success to happen quickly, but lasting success usually takes time and consistency rather than sudden bursts. It's very true that we want it fast, cheap and good, but you can only pick two.
So much value in this comment! I love the analogy of the gym membership 👏 Great insight into the importance of a big back catalogue. You're right, if one video takes off but you don't have a bunch of other videos to go and watch after it's likely you'll be a one hit wonder. Thank you for your thoughts!
I don't even think 1 video per week is sustainable long-term if you already have a full time job. Also, releasing one good video is better than releasing multiple mediocre videos.
RU-vid has a course on its current algo. Basically it makes "viewing sessions" for each audience it built, and fills them with videos. You need to fit within one of these sessions (or related ones). Eg: what do people watch next within their session?
Thank you! Yes, the reminder that this is very much the early days and RU-vid is the long game. All the successful youtuber's tell us that but it can be hard to live it haha. I think the key is to always find the joy in the process so that we can keep going.
How do you feel about "niching down"? Is there one topic that you think you can talk about for 1, 5, 10 years? I like the idea of your audience if your niche and asking yourself the question "how do I want my audience to feel when they watch my videos?" You can discuss different topics that makes your audience feel a particular way. RU-vid is a journey and I'm in it for the long game!
I like the honesty of not hitting a goal. That's super relatable. You posed a good question. I don't think there's anything I can talk about for 3 videos a week for 10 years. But I know folks who could spend years on a single topic. Some content creators I watch for their niche. Others I watch because it's cool to see what they are up to. 😊
