Are these Vloggers just a scam? SOL or Shmee etc???????

[VTECBOY]

Why and where is your RS in Scotland Shmee? Far from London?

[johnwilliams77]

VTECBOY said:

Why and where is your RS in Scotland Shmee? Far from London?

Yes - Scotland is far from London.

[Shmee]

LanceRS said:

Thanks for the reply. There must be a danger of content for contents sake. Salomondrin for example appears to have upped his output considerably but not necessarily for the better (I appreciate that with his pre YouTube background he is a bit different).
As an aside, it must be exhausting producing at that rate, the travelling, finding new content all the logistics etc. Admittedly I'm not the most creative person in the world, but how do you hold peoples interest while being so prolific ?

It's definitely a danger, and sometimes content just falls flat on its face - that can be frustrating!

I don't show much from behind the scenes but it is something I am considering trying to explain in video somehow. I'll be lucky if I spend 100 nights this year in my own bed; conversely I calculate it will be circa 110 different hotels I'll have checked into during 2016 alone - and about 75 flights/Eurotunnels/ferries in the process. The upside is that I will also be behind the wheel of around 100 cars this year too; it's a dream in many respects.

When you try to think about content, this is where there is actually again more behind the scenes. There are around 9 people in addition to myself working on Shmee150 so there is a constant effort to seek out ideas for content. This can be discussions with press departments, plotting out road trips, to individual pieces created on their own at home or abroad.

onemorelap said:

So, I appreciate that the above is small enterprise and fairly baseline stuff but is there any advice that you could offer me that I can pass on in order that he can get more out of his hobby?

It's lovely to hear of his enthusiasm! For me this was also born out of a hobby, I definitely could not have anticipated the direction it has taken when I was darting around taking very amateur videos (many would say they still are) of cars on the streets.

My honest opinion is that none of us really know where social media is going to go and what is in store for the next era of this. YouTube didn't exist in anything like its current form just five years ago, who knows what will be the next thing in five years time. The key is being open to new ideas, platforms, and ready to adapt and go for it when it arrives - that's something he can do just as well as I could.

The Crack Fox said:

Schmee's honesty earlier in this thread is admirable; talking about trying to find a balance between high viewing stats (which seems to mean simplistic little films about high-value brands for the kids to devour) and high quality (producing the kind of quality most of us grown-ups prefer).

Sometimes I wish there would be a way of making it clearer that not every single video is necessarily targeted at every viewer. Let's say for example a subscriber is equivalent to a viewer of a TV channel - they will watch some shows and ignore others, but if something isn't of their interest then they would ignore it and move on. In the online world there isn't that attitude, if the content isn't to the individual's fancy there is much more of a negative/angry reaction to it.

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Car channels suffer one particular challenge over technology which is that the content is much less searchable. There is a vast global audience for the latest tech, they are hugely more accessible devices and perhaps also significantly they are devices that are changed on a regular basis. The supercar world is for most one of dreams or imagination rather than a real world scenario, the total theoretical audience is just a tiny number in comparison.

Talking views, just for interest, Marques' 515m views isn't too dissimilar to my 325m, or at least it's the same number of figures. For what it's worth, I've followed him for longer than many people reading this will even have known what YouTube is - his content is great!

VTECBOY said:

Edinburgh stop on the Gumball I asked you for a photo so I could show some friends back home and you said "if you can get one whilst I walk" felt a bit ushered out of the way and that you couldn't be arsed but sure I can understand if you were tired or had to call it a day. My phone actually ran out of battery and Seb was kind enough to take a photo on his phone and send it to me Via Instagram.

I can only apologise if it came across that way, I actually honestly meant take a selfie with me while we walked, we do that a lot! The substantial problem (this is very strange to write) is that when I am at an event like that if I stop to take a selfie and it takes say 10-15 seconds, that is long enough for multiple people around to see what's happening and come and ask for the same. That then forms a small crowd and before you know it there are 50+ people wanting a selfie, or in the case of Edinburgh this year it was probably thousands. When you account for people who have the camera set wrong, photos that don't take or save, and other mishaps, this goes from one quick photo to standing there for 15+, 30+, 60+ minutes or more. I have frequently found myself at events where I haven't been able to leave a spot for hours on end because I don't like to say no - Goodwood Festival of Speed is by far the most challenging for me.

Gumball 3000 is also the hardest working week of my year, in fact I go about a week with the single longest night sleep lasting around 4 hours or so after driving 12-15 hours on a motorway only to arrive to smile and entertain a crowd and then race to the hotel room to spend the early hours editing, knowing we do it all again the next day. I do not expect to take part again this year because it just isn't worth the damage to my health to do so.

As amazing as that experience is, when you combine the demands for photos with the immense lack of sleep and knowing all you want to do then is get to the hotel and crack on, it's quite hard perhaps to not be too blunt about it. Another amusing issue is that I think I had around 5.5 million followers (across all the platforms) at the time of Gumball, and Seb will have been on around 250k; one can assume the number of selfie requests scales proportionately so there is a much greater difficulty to please all.

All I can do is say sorry for not giving the right impression that time; this is a huge learning curve for me, my team and pretty much everyone because there is no example to look at and learn from.

VTECBOY said:

Why and where is your RS in Scotland Shmee? Far from London?

It's a pretty awesome place to drive!

[Shmee]

You've gone for an all-or-nothing approach, I'm trying to find a middle ground.

[waremark]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Providing each video has an honest title, and it is clear when content is sponsored, surely it is easy and normal for each viewer to filter what he watches. PH is a single brand, but I only read a small fraction of it.

[Robster]

Shmee you may of missed my post but did you get the beeping sorted out in your ferrari, also the video where your friend picks up his f12 and was able to accelerate quite hard on the video does that mean it comes already run in?

Edited by Robster on Thursday 17th November 01:18

[Dapster]

mikearwas said:

Supercar spotting in London is not a difficult activity. Go to Sloane Street. Job done.

If you want to see gold wrapped Aventadors maybe. You need to explore the leafy residential streets of Bayswater, Fulham, Hampstead, St John's Wood, Highgate, Kensington, Knightsbridge etc. There you will find hiding in amongst the Discovery's and X5's, some of the most mouth watering jewels imaginable.

[johnwilliams77]

Robster said:

Shmee you may of missed my post but did you get the beeping sorted out in your ferrari, also the video where your friend picks up his f12 and was able to accelerate quite hard on the video does that mean it comes already run in?

Edited by Robster on Thursday 17th November 01:18

It means he doesn't give a st (mr f12)

[Alan_I_W]

Shmee said:

You've gone for an all-or-nothing approach, I'm trying to find a middle ground.

Something I wonder is what si YouTube leading to for you? Are you looking more at journalism?

[Shmee]

Robster said:

Shmee you may of missed my post but did you get the beeping sorted out in your ferrari, also the video where your friend picks up his f12 and was able to accelerate quite hard on the video does that mean it comes already run in?

I guess he was going on the basis that they are bench run, however in this case (It's the F12tdf video I think) what might seem quite hard is probably actually pretty gentle for a near-on 800hp Ferrari!

[Shmee]

Alan_I_W said:

Something I wonder is what si YouTube leading to for you? Are you looking more at journalism?

I don't think so, and clearly this YouTube system how it exists now won't last more than a few years. I've got a number of ideas and projects being worked on in the background but only time will tell. I'd only go down any journalist route as the business behind it, definitely not writing or trying to give technical reviews.

[Alan_I_W]

Shmee said:

I don't think so, and clearly this YouTube system how it exists now won't last more than a few years. I've got a number of ideas and projects being worked on in the background but only time will tell. I'd only go down any journalist route as the business behind it, definitely not writing or trying to give technical reviews.

It would be worth changing all your videos on the site to non YouTube format so they don't all disappear when YouTube does. I definitely think you have the best YT content of it's kind; it should be interesting to see how it progresses.

[peterattheboro]

Those stripes on the Mac....





Looks alright actually. Still need your calipers painting

[Truckosaurus]

This week's Smoking Tire podcast is worth a listen. Guest is Sam 'Seen Through Glass' and they discuss making YouTube videos and the financial realities thereof.

[dannyDC2]

Alan_I_W said:

It would be worth changing all your videos on the site to non YouTube format so they don't all disappear when YouTube does. I definitely think you have the best YT content of it's kind; it should be interesting to see how it progresses.

Where exactly do you think YouTube is going to go?

I get the feeling you just like posting comments without putting much thought in to what you type Alan.

[Alan_I_W]

dannyDC2 said:

Where exactly do you think YouTube is going to go?

I get the feeling you just like posting comments without putting much thought in to what you type Alan.

Websites don't last forever and neither will YouTube. In 2006 MySpace used to get my visitors than Google did, now look. Facebook has had less views in 3 quarters than it has since 2013.

[dannyDC2]

Alan_I_W said:

dannyDC2 said:

Where exactly do you think YouTube is going to go?

I get the feeling you just like posting comments without putting much thought in to what you type Alan.

Websites don't last forever and neither will YouTube. In 2006 MySpace used to get my visitors than Google did, now look. Facebook has had less views in 3 quarters than it has since 2013.

Do you know how long this very website has been going?

YouTube and Facebook are the second and third websites with the most global traffic going by Alexa. http://www.alexa.com/topsites

I think the videos are probably safest on there.

[Truckosaurus]

Indeed. Also Vine shut down recently, not through lack of use but through lack of profits.

I'm not sure YouTube is in any danger of closing, but it will evolve and it is most likely the first casualties will be those who upload glorified home videos and expect them to be hosted gratis.

[Alan_I_W]

dannyDC2 said:

Do you know how long this very website has been going?

YouTube and Facebook are the second and third websites with the most global traffic going by Alexa. http://www.alexa.com/topsites

I think the videos are probably safest on there.

Again, MySpace was the biggest website on earth. It's just a fact that YouTube WILL NOT be around forever, everything loses popularity one day. Look what happened to Nokia. Look at Sega, The Impreza/Evo. Everything popular, no matter what will come to an end. YouTube is no exception. A lot of our clients who are in tech say in the next 15 years we won't have PC's and the internet and we know it now. Why wouldn't he back up his videos?

[dannyDC2]

Truckosaurus said:

Indeed. Also Vine shut down recently, not through lack of use but through lack of profits.

I'm not sure YouTube is in any danger of closing, but it will evolve and it is most likely the first casualties will be those who upload glorified home videos and expect them to be hosted gratis.

Vine wasn't really able to make money like YouTube does with advertising though. I think YouTube will be around forever now. Google won't let it slip.

Interesting to see for sure though, some websites come and go, but YouTube is over 10 years old now!