Doing some homework on my channel

Meet Our Producers
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I know I have been missing from the forum over the past few months. Sorry I have been crazy busy with my day job (which I may end up involuntarily having a lot of time to do content creation on in the near future but that is another story) and working on some backend stuff for content creation.

Anyway, I wanted to ask a few questions because I am doing some homework on how to become a better creator and wanted to ask some questions here because most of you have seen at least one video of mine.

If I may be so bold as to ask for your help with the following questions. I would be really appreciative of honest answers and some constructive criticisms. Feel free to either respond to this post or DM me.

In general, what type of thought process do you think people who watch my content has? for example, Independent thinker, curious, analytical, etc.

What needs, challenges and frustrations do you think my audience has?

What do you think my audience is looking for when they watch one of my videos?

What do you think I don’t supply to my audience that they are looking for?

Thanks in advance for helping me become a better creator!

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I’m a big proponent of short videos

a couple minutes is easy to spare, five still ok, as it go’s up my chances of hitting play drop, to get me to watch a full 20 minutes needs some seriously interesting content or some good chuckles every couple minutes

I do like where @DarkCornerGunworks is going with their content, its entertaining

The other side of the coin are videos I need for a project, I had bookmarked @Mosinvirus 's videos while doing a 1911 build and they were very useful

But again, this was a project I was involved in and not me just surfing content

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Yea, I still have @Mosinvirus bookmarked too! His videos got me through my first 80% build.

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Wow… I’m flattered we’re even mentioned. I think @Robert might actually like us. Lol

To answer your question, not that i think i’m in any way qualified to answer questions, I’d say you’re asking the wrong questions.

Yes, we make content for views, that’s the end goal. But, to try to pander to what your audience wants, at best, will isolate part of your viewers, and, at worst, make it all feel forced, and cost even more viewers.

Make the content YOU want to see and let the viewers come to you. You’ll end up with a better product and be happier. Don’t be hung up on numbers. You’ll go nuts that way.

And, some videos are gonna bomb, it’s just the way it is. Make what makes you happy and what you want. You’re building a brand… YOUR brand. And nobody here, nor your viewers, have, nor should have, control over that.

Hope that helps in some way.

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Thanks for commenting!

I get all of what you are saying. What I am actually doing is an assignment to more or less work on my mission statement as a content creator and focus on my niche. I don’t necessarily worry if a video bombs. I have put out videos that I thought would take off and ended up doing nothing. I have also had the opposite happen as well.

Heck, one video caught the attention of the manufacturer and they asked me to evaluate another product that is currently in development for their engineering team (that is really fun to do I must say). I don’t think that they were prepared for 3 pages of notes from just my first outing with the product.

I don’t worry about numbers too much. Too many people are worried about their popularity contest (subscribers). I am more interested in my view and retention times (hey Full30… when are we going to get analytics as a creator?)

I am comfortable with my brand. I built my brand and style on what I felt were the failures of other content creators (and sometimes my own). I am more interested in defining what my niche and target audience is.

Asking these questions is not really about how to change my content. It is about defining who my target audience is. That’s why I ask for honesty. Quite frankly, this is the one place I can expect to get brutal honesty.

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I’ll push my content to anyone who will watch, whether they fall into my “demographic” or not.

I’m kind of a content whore. Lmao. Putting yourself in a niche inhibits expansion. Everybody’s style is different. I don’t know that anyone can pin down the kind of stuff you’re asking. Have you thought of asking your viewers for feedback?

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That’s the purpose of asking the question here. I want to hear from my viewers.

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:+1:

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I’m also a fan of shorter vids.7 minutes or less. Although, if the video is covering something I’m working on or a gun I’m on the verge of buying, I will easily get caught up in 20+ minutes no problem

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I agree on the short videos. I will watch the first few minutes of a long one then I have to go back to what I was doing. I don’t know if I am like most but a solid 20 minutes or more is hard to come by .

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Funny you all should say shorter videos. I have a series that I developed that was only on one platform… until this weekend :grin:

I am starting to release those videos to other platforms.

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I feel kind of weird answering these questions since I don’t run a massive channel and it is currently “parked” due to not having any time to continue to make content…

But… generally speaking I can tell you my thought process behind starting mine:

  1. Huh, no one made a video on that
  2. Huh, no one made a video making that with simple tools
  3. Huh, you can’t see crap in that video (angles, lighting, shaky cam)
  4. I will make my own, showing stuff can be done by a non-pro and maybe make some money in the process.

What I am learning now as I watch other videos on YouTube:

  1. Screaming Thumbnails.
    I seem to get enough info about the video from the thumbnail. Now days people put so much text into the thumbnail that I don’t even need to read the title of the video. It works.

  2. Preview
    Use the first few seconds of the video to “grab” the viewer’s attention by showing what will happen later in the video. Then proceed with regular programming.

  3. Time is money
    Try to speed up all sections that can be sped up without losing vital info. Example - your brass sorting video. You could have sped up sections where you shake the sorting plates, then slow down when you check results.

  4. Silence is bad
    Use music or voice over for sped up sections or when audio is bad.

  5. Respect the ear
    Balance the sound of the video so that viewers don’t need to adjust volume, especially during sped up sections.

Hopefully this helps.

As for audience questions, I can only hope to be able to answer for mine - I think my audience are viewers that want to become more confident doing something themselves. I mean that was the goal.

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Forgot to include @TheRogueBanshee in the post above.

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Thanks! that helps a lot. I hope you get to kick off your channel again some day. I really miss your content.

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