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Reflections on 1 Year of (Trying to) Become Successful on YouTube

chaserensberger.com

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Re: Reflections on 1 Year of (Trying to) Become Successful on YouTube

#21

Post by ChaseRensberger »

laborcontract wrote: post #20

with all due respect i find the type of content you (and the myriad other people who post the exact same type of mr. beast-molded content) tiresome and repulsive. Moreover, every single video is about “I”. An “I” video only works if people care about who “I” is, otherwise it’s just self centered, unhuman content creation.

I actually don't disagree with you at all. I think that is the kind of content that Luke is most suited/wants to make. Him being a close friend of mind I just want to help him succeed. My goal for this article was to be a kind've meta look at the process of it all. I certainly would love this channel (and YouTube) to move away from this kind've wrapping paper though. Appreciate you checking out the article!

Re: Reflections on 1 Year of (Trying to) Become Successful on YouTube

#22

Post by ChaseRensberger »

omoikane wrote: post #9

I wonder if they have a specific goal in mind that they use to define success. Maybe it's a more general "we will know we are successful when we get there", or maybe it's a specific metric like the number of views. The latter feels like a real grind. Related: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41549649 - How to succeed in MrBeast production (2024-09-15, 1352 comments)

I don't think we have a number in mind. Just trying to have fun and film it.

Re: Reflections on 1 Year of (Trying to) Become Successful on YouTube

#23

Post by keiferski »

I actually find it quite reassuring that YouTubers with an individual style and personality end up doing better than those trying to make generic me-too Mr. Beast style content. Looking at the OP’s channel, there is basically nothing about their videos which screams “unique individual”, which is probably why they are struggling. I have discovered dozens of creators that maybe don’t have the most optimized thumbnail, titles, or production values, but still manage to convey a unique personality that comes through in their videos.

As I said, this is actually pretty reassuring and is probably why YouTube, all things considered, is the most authentic social media platform nowadays.

I hope that wasn’t too harsh, and my advice to the creator is to think more about what your unique brand is, how you can convey it in a thumbnail or video title instantly, and just generally be more authentic and original in your videos.

Re: Reflections on 1 Year of (Trying to) Become Successful on YouTube

#24

Post by ChaseRensberger »

keiferski wrote: post #23

I actually find it quite reassuring that YouTubers with an individual style and personality end up doing better than those trying to make generic me-too Mr. Beast style content. Looking at the OP’s channel, there is basically nothing about their videos which screams “unique individual”, which is probably why they are struggling. I have discovered dozens of creators that maybe don’t have the most optimized thumbnail,…

I actually don't disagree with you at all. I think that is the kind of content that Luke is most suited/wants to make. Him being a close friend of mind I just want to help him succeed. My goal for this article was to be a kind've meta look at the process of it all. Super interesting to hear your perspective. Appreciate you checking out the article!

Re: Reflections on 1 Year of (Trying to) Become Successful on YouTube

#25

Post by sdwr »

laborcontract wrote: post #19
adamesque wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love this nongrammatical/idiomatic use of parentheses actually. Language is a tool, and its rules can be just as powerful when violated as when upheld. In this case they convey a subtext you can’t get as gracefully by being a slave to syntax— that the author hoped the post would be about how they did achieve success, but that didn’t happen, forcing the parenthetical qualifier. I don’t think another treatment would…

you’d normally use square braces [for this kind of thing]

Square braces are used to show you are editing a quote for grammar or brevity, not to change the meaning of your own sentence. Ex:

> I love this [...] use of parentheses. [Rules] can be just as powerful when violated as when upheld.

Re: Reflections on 1 Year of (Trying to) Become Successful on YouTube

#27

Post by tennisflyi »

Smaller YouTubers can do pretty well, i.e., a thousand devoted fans (and sponsors), and a year isn’t that long. Most of my follows are smaller YouTubers. Everyone wants to be the Musk of YT and not a “regular Joe” FIRE-guy. Both live pretty nice lives

I can drop a list after work

Re: Reflections on 1 Year of (Trying to) Become Successful on YouTube

#28

Post by npinsker »

My favorite advice I've ever heard on creating engaging content is from Ludwig: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i9gkprYekI

Some aspects are obviously reflective of his style specifically but I resonated with his pushing of "stakes", i.e. consciously instigating a good payoff for the viewer with the title and thumbnail, and then delivering the payoff and more. I realized after watching this that I almost never watch videos without stakes. Just speaking personally, this might be the most impactful thing missing from the videos on your channel.

Your titles and premises are quite similar to Ryan Trahan's (https://www.youtube.com/@ryan/videos), but Ryan's consistently have stakes ("I tried every Airbnb Category" -- ooh, are there interesting categories I don't know about? "I Tried Every Drive-thru's Most Expensive Item" -- ooh, how expensive do they get?). In contrast, the titles here just strike me as more uninteresting ("I Let AI Control My Vacation" -- ok but I can do random things already without AI? "I Hiked a Mountain Blindfolded" -- ok but you're not actually in serious danger?) I'm not too surprised the GeoGuessr one performed well, since the stakes practically write themselves -- "ooh, can he figure out where he is? what if he gets dropped in the middle of nowhere?! how long will he have to walk?!".

Props to OP for their good-natured attitude and engagement. YT seems like such a tough business nowadays where it'll take years and a very thick skin to succeed. In contrast to some other commenters, I think some of the pieces that make a great channel are already there. Hope you accomplish your goals and I wish you well :)

Re: Reflections on 1 Year of (Trying to) Become Successful on YouTube

#29

Post by ChaseRensberger »

npinsker wrote: post #28

My favorite advice I've ever heard on creating engaging content is from Ludwig: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i9gkprYekI Some aspects are obviously reflective of his style specifically but I resonated with his pushing of "stakes", i.e. consciously instigating a good payoff for the viewer with the title and thumbnail, and then delivering the payoff and more. I realized after watching this that I almost never watch…

Thanks for your feedback! Yeah, I think those 2 videos you mentioned are probably my least favorite that we've made. Frankly, we don't make the kind of content that I would generally consume myself so I certainly don't always give the best feedback when it comes time to give a video a title and thumbnail. Comments like this are always really helpful for that reason. Thanks a ton for checking out the article. I wish you well also :)

Re: Reflections on 1 Year of (Trying to) Become Successful on YouTube

#30

Post by ChaseRensberger »

tennisflyi wrote: post #27

Smaller YouTubers can do pretty well, i.e., a thousand devoted fans (and sponsors), and a year isn’t that long. Most of my follows are smaller YouTubers. Everyone wants to be the Musk of YT and not a “regular Joe” FIRE-guy. Both live pretty nice lives I can drop a list after work

Totally agree! Our biggest goal, I think, is to just have a good excuse to do fun stuff. I look forward to that list.
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