Developing my channel ruins the hobby?

[Baldbiker]

So I will be having this debate with a riding buddy at some point in the future. For now it was just over the phone so I chose not to get into it, but his viewpoint was that I shouldn't care at all about how many subs, how many views, or how well my motovlog channel is doing. Why? Because then it becomes work and is no longer a fun hobby. Then you worry about dumping everything you have into the endless black void of the internet, where it swallows up your content and rarely gives anything back. I should take it lightly and not even wish to get to the point of monetization because it will ruin the hobby for me.

Ok, I understand the point, but definitely have a different viewpoint. Here's why. I have entertained many hobbies in my lifetime. All of them have cost money to pursue, all of them take time and effort. They all require research, practice and development of knowledge. Whether it's building remote control trucks, playing guitar, or making videos for the internet with my motorcycle.

Take note, I said they all take effort. You need to put time, money and effort into whatever your hobby is in order to develop it. Take away the desire to achieve a goal, or improve with it, and you have also taken away the desire to do anything with it at all.

When I was around 14, I wanted to be a rock star. I worked toward my goal by taking lessons, practicing every day for hours, writing songs, learning songs, starting a band, working on promotion, travelling long distances to play somewhere. Yep. I did it all. And in the end, I never did become a rock star, but it was the DESIRE to become one, and the desire to attain that goal that kept me going, and inspired me to put so much into it.

Working with Remote control trucks. I built all kinds from the kits. Even the big rigs. They cost thousands to build and take months sometimes before you have a finished product. I did it because I wanted the end product and hoped to be able to sell them and use the money to make more and support the hobby.

And with the motovlog/videos? Another hobby. Been doing it for several years now. Nope, never became famous, never even broke 300 subs, but it's because I have a goal of getting to the point of monetization that keeps me going, investing and working on more videos. I may never get 1000 subs, but without the goal I may as well pack it in right now. But I don't want to, because I do enjoy editing and making a finished product and putting it up on display to see if anyone likes it. If I get a positive reaction, lots of likes, a few more subs, then yay, small endorphin boost for me. It's just what I do, and the reason I do it.

So I for one, will keep my goal, and will keep making videos this season, because without that goal, I lose the desire to try.
1000 subs here we go!

 

[Hippo-Drones]

You gotta do the things that make you happy in this world, we are here far too short a time to worry about what some folk think who don't get where your coming from.

 

[Theodor]

Debate is good, arguing is not. So keep it a debate and have fun with it, maybe you can convert him
In the end every person has their own approach and goals. Just like with video games. So what I am playing with the easy mode and am not that good. I am having fun, am I not? Some people want to be the best, and that is what makes it fun for them. Neither of us is wrong.

 

[Moto Mengy]

Personally, I agree with your friend and its how I've approached Moto Mengy.

I don't care much about the subs or how "successful" my channel is, I'm motovlogging for the fun of it. I'm making videos I want to make, not what the SEO desires or what the hot topics are. I'm releasing videos at my own pace, one I find fun and easy to attain, not what is statistically best for growing my channel.

Could my channel grow faster if I put more work into it or did things differently? Certainly! I'm prioritizing fun over success instead.

It all comes down to what you want as a motovlogger. If you want to build a huge channel which can make you lots of money and possibly become a career then yes you need to do things a certain way and really chase the algorithm. I don't want to bother with any of that. I don't want to turn riding nor motovlogging into a "job", I like it as a fun hobby I put a few hours a week into and nothing more. I still want to go on lots of rides without any cameras at all to just enjoy the ride instead.

There is another way to approach this too. I once read a book by Mark Cuban, a billionaire investor, where he said something that always stuck with me:

"If you chase the money you will never catch it. Instead do something you love and enjoy, that way you'll end up putting your heart and soul into it. Then find a way to monetize that. Accomplish this and you'll end up rich by accident without ever having to work a day in your life."

I'm kind of approaching motovlogging like that.

 

[Drakhen99]

Man, I'm right between Mengy and Monetization... for real. I make the videos I want to make, but I also try to optimize the SEO stuff by tailoring my titles, thumbnails, and tags for max exposure and gain. My goal right now is 1k subs, but then it'll be 5k, 10k... you get the picture. I want YouTube to replace my day job.

I spend many hours a week filming and editing, because both are quite fun. It's helped me as a speaker, video editor, and melds nicely with my computer nerd self.

I really enjoy trying new things in Davinci Resolve, spreading mental health awareness and coping mechanisms, and sharing my journeys. YT is my creative outlet, with all the social media stuff that comes along with it [Instagram, FB, my blog site]. It gives my rides purpose, kind of a "something to show for it" thing.

That said, it's a passion and obsession right now, and I'm putting out 2-4 videos per week. Actually, this week it could be 5 or 6 total, because of how things are coming along in the editor.

If it's too much work and you focus on the subs/views too much, which is an easy trap to fall into, then it'll quickly turn into a job. Whenever I get wrapped around the axle on numbers, I take a 3-4 day break from editing and just sit back and do something else. Usually, I'll get an idea of something I want to film, or a road I want to show off, or something I want to ask or share with anyone willing to watch.

All THAT said, Moto Mengy's channel is growing at a great rate, and much faster than my own. He's got something going on that just draws people in, and it's awesome!

-John

 

[Meifesto]

There is no right or wrong answer here, as it is all based on personality, understanding the concept of "hobby" for yourself, your motivational reasons, and your character.

But... When you start feeling like it becomes a MUST instead of a WANT you might want to do a reevaluation of your hobby.
You can push yourself to the 1000 subs, invest mountains of money and time into it, but you should still do it for yourself. Your own positivity should be first.

So yes, your friend is right, it should be a hobby, and not become "work".
But where that line in the sand lays for you might very well differ between him and you.
Between Mengy and Hippo, etc etc

 

[SighBored]

As long as you are happy while developing your channel, just do it. But, if you find yourself feeling miserable or down because your efforts to develop it isn't working out, then you know you are on the wrong path and no longer doing it for the fun of it.

If you start having that pressure of needing to push out new content, desperation on self made commitment deadline to push content, etc, then it probably isn't fun anymore.

 

[Moto Mengy]

All THAT said, Moto Mengy's channel is growing at a great rate, and much faster than my own. He's got something going on that just draws people in, and it's awesome!

Thanks! My channel has had steady consistent regular growth over the past few months, but I honestly think its just due to regular uploads every Sunday over a long period of time and the YT algorithm is simply doing its thing due to that consistency.

A motovlogger with a very large channel told me about a year ago the best thing I could do for my channel was to simply upload one video on the same day every week, and keep doing that long term. I don't know if she was right or not but it's worked okay for me so far.

 

[Dewey316]

I think it all comes down to your goals. If you what makes you happy is the sub count, then grind to build that.

I'm the complete opposite, I only do a vid every other week, because this is completely just a hobby. My sub count and growth shows that, but I keep slowly climbing up in views and sub counts. Probably not nearly as fast as I could if I put out video's more frequently. But, that is the time I need to do the videos that I want to make, and at a pace that keeps me doing them, but not pressured to make content.

It sounds like your personality is one that you need to reach a goal, if that is the case, set a goal and work towards it. There is no wrong answer, only the one that is going to keep you feeling fulfilled from what you are doing.

 

[Drakhen99]

Thanks! My channel has had steady consistent regular growth over the past few months, but I honestly think its just due to regular uploads every Sunday over a long period of time and the YT algorithm is simply doing its thing due to that consistency.

A motovlogger with a very large channel told me about a year ago the best thing I could do for my channel was to simply upload one video on the same day every week, and keep doing that long term. I don't know if she was right or not but it's worked okay for me so far.

Yep - consistency is key. I read somewhere that a person will watch - on average - 4 of your videos before subscribing. So you've got to have 4 videos that interest them before you get that sub.

I shoot for 2 videos per week, but then I get a bug up my ass about certain videos and I'll grind on 'em and post more... like this week, where I'll have 5-8 videos going live. It's just how it is. When I complete a batch like this, I'll take a while away from the editor to regroup.

-John

 

[LandyVlad]

John have you considered when you have say 5 videos to go up, setting them up to go live a week or two weeks from upload that way you can take a little break while still having 'fresh' uploads for viewers each week.

 

[Drakhen99]

John have you considered when you have say 5 videos to go up, setting them up to go live a week or two weeks from upload that way you can take a little break while still having 'fresh' uploads for viewers each week.

Yup. Already done. I have at least 1 or 2 videos uploaded, detailed, and scheduled... through April 9th right now.

And probably 6 more I'll get done in the next week or so - those are "evergreen" type topics, so I'm not in a rush to get them done [which is why they've been sitting on my hard drive untouched since I got rough cuts done over 2 months ago]

I just checked my projects in Resolve, and depending on how I break out certain longer ones, I have 9-14 videos in editing right now.

-John

 

[Moto Mengy]

I'm the complete opposite, I only do a vid every other week, because this is completely just a hobby. My sub count and growth shows that, but I keep slowly climbing up in views and sub counts. Probably not nearly as fast as I could if I put out video's more frequently.

You are lucky in that you have incredible scenery to ride around and film with. I like Pennsylvania but your area makes me jealous with possibilities!

 

[Dewey316]

You are lucky in that you have incredible scenery to ride around and film with. I like Pennsylvania but your area makes me jealous with possibilities!

It is for sure. I need to be good at doing lots of filming this summer, so I can get through the winter with saved up footage.

 

[AlanSmith7]

I would say having realistic small goals are good and being consistent is the key to get the subs/views. Once one of your videos got ranks for big keywords, you will start getting Subs/Views Super Fast. The only thing we need to do is to create consistently highly demanding content.

 

[Drakhen99]

I would say having realistic small goals are good and being consistent is the key to get the subs/views. Once one of your videos got ranks for big keywords, you will start getting Subs/Views Super Fast. The only thing we need to do is to create consistently highly demanding content.

My first "Bagger Showdown" video is evidence that this strategy works - it's got almost 9k views... I just wish it were 10m long instead of 4m long! It's gotten me 22 subs since it was posted, I just checked.

-John

 

[Hippo-Drones]

Absolutely, my best performing video has gotten me nearly 160 subs and consistently gets around 50 views a day, which is small fry to the larger channels, but it floats me when I post a video that tanks, or take a break for a week. It will be hitting 50k views soon, which I find insane, yet some of the larger channels I watch will get that many views in the first 10 min of uploading a video!!!!!???!!!

 

[Drakhen99]

Absolutely, my best performing video has gotten me nearly 160 subs and consistently gets around 50 views a day, which is small fry to the larger channels, but it floats me when I post a video that tanks, or take a break for a week. It will be hitting 50k views soon, which I find insane, yet some of the larger channels I watch will get that many views in the first 10 min of uploading a video!!!!!???!!!

Yeah, I see those channels that get thousands of views in the first few hours, and I'm just like WTF?

How long is your video? Like I said, I wish I'd done mine as a 8-10m video instead of 4m. If it got the same AVD and views, I'd be much closer to the 4k watch hour requirement for monetization LOL.

I will say this though - that video gets between 65 and 85 views a day, which boggles the mind. I can tell from the stats when someone shares it with their friends - it'll get like 9 views in 1 hour HAHA. Right now I have that one, which has 185v/48hrs, another that's at 154/48, and a third that's 84/48 ... the first 2 are like 4m long and the 3rd one is just under 7m long.

Maybe I should break all my 10-20m long vlogs into 7m chunks and post 'em up as short series LOL. [I am in fact toying with this idea with a 1hr [after rough cut] set of footage I've already recorded. If anyone cares how it does as a short series, I'll post back here.

-John

 

[Hippo-Drones]

It is just shy of 15 minutes long

 

[Drakhen99]

It is just shy of 15 minutes long

Nice! That's some good watch time right there

-John