Content creation advice.
Discussion
My apologies if this comes across as a bit cringe, feel free to tell me how stupid this idea is as I need feedback on something I know little about, any comments will be welcome.
Please forgive my ramblings.
I'm considering retiring, just selling the business and walking away from a lifetime of stress and sleepless nights, I started when I was 20 and I've just hit 62. No complaints really cos I've done okay and even a month ago if I'd been asked about retirement I would have laughed it off, work was really all I knew but I've finally looked at this objectively and I think I want out. My two best friends of over 45 years are both suffering from inoperable cancer and I lost my life partner 5 years ago, I think my priorities need a rethink.
But retirement is f
king scary, nothing to worry about? Nothing to get up for in the morning? Whats the point? 
So I was thinking about doing a YouTube channel. I don't want to sound like a (here's the cringe stuff) but I don't need an income, I'm sorted, so I was thinking I could do something just to have an interest. I have a McLaren 750S and an MX5, I have drones and flashy cameras (that I don't have a clue how to use but I could learn) and maybe I could do road trips or visits to places and vlog them?
I've had a youtube channel for years (20 I think) but the only stuff I put on it is short vids I've taken to accompany the Euro trips I blog on Pistonheads. These are usually awful, generally recorded when I'm drunk and I've never had any interest in promoting them or getting views.
So would a channel of an old codger tearing about in sports cars, visiting places and talking rubbish get any engagement?
It doesn't have to make money but obviously it has to be worth the time I put into making them, which I think would be way more than I probably understand.
But it would give me something to do, I think learning the editing side would be interesting, and I have a little home studio so I could maybe even record the music for it.
I know this post is hugely self indulgent and nobody needs to give a fk but just looking for opinions, and I really don't mind if they are negative.
Please forgive my ramblings.
I'm considering retiring, just selling the business and walking away from a lifetime of stress and sleepless nights, I started when I was 20 and I've just hit 62. No complaints really cos I've done okay and even a month ago if I'd been asked about retirement I would have laughed it off, work was really all I knew but I've finally looked at this objectively and I think I want out. My two best friends of over 45 years are both suffering from inoperable cancer and I lost my life partner 5 years ago, I think my priorities need a rethink.
But retirement is f
king scary, nothing to worry about? Nothing to get up for in the morning? Whats the point? So I was thinking about doing a YouTube channel. I don't want to sound like a
(here's the cringe stuff) but I don't need an income, I'm sorted, so I was thinking I could do something just to have an interest. I have a McLaren 750S and an MX5, I have drones and flashy cameras (that I don't have a clue how to use but I could learn) and maybe I could do road trips or visits to places and vlog them?I've had a youtube channel for years (20 I think) but the only stuff I put on it is short vids I've taken to accompany the Euro trips I blog on Pistonheads. These are usually awful, generally recorded when I'm drunk and I've never had any interest in promoting them or getting views.
So would a channel of an old codger tearing about in sports cars, visiting places and talking rubbish get any engagement?
It doesn't have to make money but obviously it has to be worth the time I put into making them, which I think would be way more than I probably understand.
But it would give me something to do, I think learning the editing side would be interesting, and I have a little home studio so I could maybe even record the music for it.
I know this post is hugely self indulgent and nobody needs to give a f
k but just looking for opinions, and I really don't mind if they are negative.Go for it, there are plenty of other people doing similar things who have loads of subscribers, be careful of the music you use due do copyright laws.
Some examples....
https://www.youtube.com/@RobLittleuk/videos
https://www.youtube.com/@PlanesTrainsEverything/vi...
https://www.youtube.com/@steve-marsh/videos
Some examples....
https://www.youtube.com/@RobLittleuk/videos
https://www.youtube.com/@PlanesTrainsEverything/vi...
https://www.youtube.com/@steve-marsh/videos
Do it, who cares if no-one watches it. However I'll happily watch almost anything on youtube.
As for being worried about retirement. I'm often confused by people who think they won't have anything to get up in the morning for. These must be people who take work far too seriously. It's just something that gets in the way of me doing other stuff!
As for being worried about retirement. I'm often confused by people who think they won't have anything to get up in the morning for. These must be people who take work far too seriously. It's just something that gets in the way of me doing other stuff!
You never know what will work and take-off on YT.
I think one of the biggest issues people have is difficulty talking to the camera and then seeing themselves on camera, I think it may be worth watching some of the bigger automotive channels first few videos, also it would be best to try and plan the videos out so you have an idea for the next four or five videos, you said about going on trips, so plan them out before and post the first trip video when you have driven your second trip and so on, so you don't end up feeling pressured into filming something, maybe have a back-up video filmed just in case you need it, where you talk about your cars, the spec and why you like them etc, so if there is an issue you have something to post in your regular time and place, idk you upload once a month on a Sunday afternoon for example.
I think one of the biggest issues people have is difficulty talking to the camera and then seeing themselves on camera, I think it may be worth watching some of the bigger automotive channels first few videos, also it would be best to try and plan the videos out so you have an idea for the next four or five videos, you said about going on trips, so plan them out before and post the first trip video when you have driven your second trip and so on, so you don't end up feeling pressured into filming something, maybe have a back-up video filmed just in case you need it, where you talk about your cars, the spec and why you like them etc, so if there is an issue you have something to post in your regular time and place, idk you upload once a month on a Sunday afternoon for example.
Good luck - it's a crowded space, and the success/failure rate is ridiculously high.
I'd suggest focusing on content which you find interesting and work on the assumption that you'll barely get any views and make no money, i.e. do it for your own amusement. If you're lucky then you might start growing a channel, but it's a tough saturated market.
I'd suggest focusing on content which you find interesting and work on the assumption that you'll barely get any views and make no money, i.e. do it for your own amusement. If you're lucky then you might start growing a channel, but it's a tough saturated market.
Pro videography is part of my professional repertoire.
Back in Covid, I bought a Drone as it was something I felt I needed for work. I need to learn how to use it properly and with paid assignments a bit thin on the ground, I decided the best way to learn it was to create my own assignment which resulted in this:
https://youtu.be/W4f9AN_kbig
Didn't bother me in the slightest if nobody watched it but without any proactive promotion from me, 7,700 people have.
In 2021, I got an Elise. Rather than just drive it for the sake of driving it (in which there is of course no shame!) I decided to try my hand at making a Motoring Vlog that resulted in this:
https://youtu.be/M82VjXZ_7Nc
Again, this was purely for my own amusement and, again, with no promotion, 32,500 have so far watched.
Neither of these stats are earth shattering but it is pleasing to put something out there that a few other people do find interesting or entertaining.
So, yes, go for it. My only advice is to make stuff you like and don't chase viewers for the sake of chasing viewers.
Back in Covid, I bought a Drone as it was something I felt I needed for work. I need to learn how to use it properly and with paid assignments a bit thin on the ground, I decided the best way to learn it was to create my own assignment which resulted in this:
https://youtu.be/W4f9AN_kbig
Didn't bother me in the slightest if nobody watched it but without any proactive promotion from me, 7,700 people have.
In 2021, I got an Elise. Rather than just drive it for the sake of driving it (in which there is of course no shame!) I decided to try my hand at making a Motoring Vlog that resulted in this:
https://youtu.be/M82VjXZ_7Nc
Again, this was purely for my own amusement and, again, with no promotion, 32,500 have so far watched.
Neither of these stats are earth shattering but it is pleasing to put something out there that a few other people do find interesting or entertaining.
So, yes, go for it. My only advice is to make stuff you like and don't chase viewers for the sake of chasing viewers.
A friend of mine had a channel of various videos of things he found interesting; trips/diet/projects etc, not one specific theme just things he thought to video.
Spent a lot of time planning/shooting/editing on some of them as he enjoyed the process.
Also did a video of a countryside train journey, just the camera through the window for 30 mins, no effort required.
Guess which was his most watched video
Spent a lot of time planning/shooting/editing on some of them as he enjoyed the process.
Also did a video of a countryside train journey, just the camera through the window for 30 mins, no effort required.
Guess which was his most watched video
I've been creating videos for my channel for about 2 years and trying to build it up - here are a few of my thoughts after around 20 videos and just over 440 subscribers.
It can be rewarding but it's hard work and time consuming. The key thing is that you need to enjoy the process of creating videos itself and forget about becoming popular or making money. Unless you're lucky, most of your first videos will just be seen by a handful of people and at first it can be pretty demoralising to put all that work into filming and editing something only to see that only 10 people have watched it. You also need a thick skin as you will be putting yourself out there and if the videos do well, you'll almost certainly get some negative comments amongst the positive ones.
As an example, I've just published my latest video yesterday after working on it in my spare time for the last 3 months. I don't even know how many hours of work I put into it - well over 100 I'd guess. It's not going to make me a penny - I'll count it as a success if I get over 1,000 views. But I've enjoyed making it, I've learnt a lot and it's a fantastic feeling to put something out there into the world that people are watching and enjoying. In a way, it's making you immortal as that video will be online now forever (well, as long as YouTube exists).
If you're interested in seeing what 100+ hours of editing looks like, here's the video:
https://youtu.be/UVNUWoPNe-c
People want to be entertained, so having interesting content that people will want to watch is the key thing. Traveling to places in sports cars is a great subject to start with.
Making a few quid from it is possible, but it's very hard. Getting to the point where YouTube pay you requires you to have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours over the last year. A watch hour just means 10x people have watched 6 minutes of your content, or 2 people have watched 30 minutes. It is hard to get to both of those numbers - I'm not there yet and I've been trying for well over a year even with a couple of videos with around 10k views each. Even once you've got to that point, you'll be making pennies unless you get a lot of views. So realistically, it's not going to make enough to even cover your petrol on a road trip let alone make any decent money.
Actually creating the raw footage itself takes a lot of time/effort. You could just stick a camera on the dash to record the drive and then do some bits to camera afterwards, but if you want to splice in clips of you driving by or drone shots of you driving along an Alpine pass, it takes time to take those shots and isn't always that simple, especially if you're on your own.
Editing takes a lot more time than people realise. I've found that the general rule of thumb for editing is around 1-3 hours per minute of footage, although this can vary considerably depending on whether you're just talking to your phone for 10 minutes, or doing a 30 minute video with 100s of video clips, different sound tracks and more complex editing.
The advice I've picked up is just go for it. The best time for starting a YouTube channel was years ago. The second best time is today. Just focus on improving each time so your next video is always better than your last and forget being the next Mat Armstrong - just enjoy the process for what it is and see if it's something you enjoy. You can also farm out bits of the process if you find you don't enjoy them - e.g., you can find video editors on sites like fiverrr and you can use sites like Artlist to download music that's licensed to use online.
It can be rewarding but it's hard work and time consuming. The key thing is that you need to enjoy the process of creating videos itself and forget about becoming popular or making money. Unless you're lucky, most of your first videos will just be seen by a handful of people and at first it can be pretty demoralising to put all that work into filming and editing something only to see that only 10 people have watched it. You also need a thick skin as you will be putting yourself out there and if the videos do well, you'll almost certainly get some negative comments amongst the positive ones.
As an example, I've just published my latest video yesterday after working on it in my spare time for the last 3 months. I don't even know how many hours of work I put into it - well over 100 I'd guess. It's not going to make me a penny - I'll count it as a success if I get over 1,000 views. But I've enjoyed making it, I've learnt a lot and it's a fantastic feeling to put something out there into the world that people are watching and enjoying. In a way, it's making you immortal as that video will be online now forever (well, as long as YouTube exists).
If you're interested in seeing what 100+ hours of editing looks like, here's the video:
https://youtu.be/UVNUWoPNe-c
People want to be entertained, so having interesting content that people will want to watch is the key thing. Traveling to places in sports cars is a great subject to start with.
Making a few quid from it is possible, but it's very hard. Getting to the point where YouTube pay you requires you to have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours over the last year. A watch hour just means 10x people have watched 6 minutes of your content, or 2 people have watched 30 minutes. It is hard to get to both of those numbers - I'm not there yet and I've been trying for well over a year even with a couple of videos with around 10k views each. Even once you've got to that point, you'll be making pennies unless you get a lot of views. So realistically, it's not going to make enough to even cover your petrol on a road trip let alone make any decent money.
Actually creating the raw footage itself takes a lot of time/effort. You could just stick a camera on the dash to record the drive and then do some bits to camera afterwards, but if you want to splice in clips of you driving by or drone shots of you driving along an Alpine pass, it takes time to take those shots and isn't always that simple, especially if you're on your own.
Editing takes a lot more time than people realise. I've found that the general rule of thumb for editing is around 1-3 hours per minute of footage, although this can vary considerably depending on whether you're just talking to your phone for 10 minutes, or doing a 30 minute video with 100s of video clips, different sound tracks and more complex editing.
The advice I've picked up is just go for it. The best time for starting a YouTube channel was years ago. The second best time is today. Just focus on improving each time so your next video is always better than your last and forget being the next Mat Armstrong - just enjoy the process for what it is and see if it's something you enjoy. You can also farm out bits of the process if you find you don't enjoy them - e.g., you can find video editors on sites like fiverrr and you can use sites like Artlist to download music that's licensed to use online.
I’d you’re doing it for the right reasons then go for it.
Having a passion for the content creation side is key. Do it because you enjoy the creation, rather than seeing that as a slog then being disappointed if you don’t get the views (like Jayemm said).
Also, maybe switch up from long form YouTube to short form TikTok / Instagram
Having a passion for the content creation side is key. Do it because you enjoy the creation, rather than seeing that as a slog then being disappointed if you don’t get the views (like Jayemm said).
Also, maybe switch up from long form YouTube to short form TikTok / Instagram
A friend of mine is doing similar.
He retires next month, and in May starts a 3 month road trip driving through Europe to turkey maybe further. He has taken a video editing course and set up a YouTube channel ready. I am joining him on the first leg of Route Napoleon to Cannes.
When he has completed the trip, he is going back to uni to do another degree, and will likely keep vlogging our regular road trips.
Op - do it.
He retires next month, and in May starts a 3 month road trip driving through Europe to turkey maybe further. He has taken a video editing course and set up a YouTube channel ready. I am joining him on the first leg of Route Napoleon to Cannes.
When he has completed the trip, he is going back to uni to do another degree, and will likely keep vlogging our regular road trips.
Op - do it.
ehasler said:
If you're interested in seeing what 100+ hours of editing looks like, here's the video:
https://youtu.be/UVNUWoPNe-c
That's really good. Obvious a lot of work went into that!https://youtu.be/UVNUWoPNe-c
Also, it's clear you're not doing this for money or even subscribers but to get high numbers, you need regular content. People watch youtube like we used to watch TV, they want their weekly hit. Spending 100 hours editing a video makes it looks incredible quality but isn't great if you want to pump out content, I guess it's finding the balance.
Badda said:
Also, it's clear you're not doing this for money or even subscribers but to get high numbers, you need regular content. People watch youtube like we used to watch TV, they want their weekly hit. Spending 100 hours editing a video makes it looks incredible quality but isn't great if you want to pump out content, I guess it's finding the balance.
That's a good point - you do need to put out regular videos. The mistake I made with that 100 hour video is doing it all in one go. In hindsight I should have planned and filmed it in a way to split it up into a series of shorter videos. It's all part of the learning experience though!Gassing Station | TV, Film, Streaming & Radio | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff