What I Learned from Uploading a YouTube Video Every Week for A YEAR!
This is a blog article I’ve been counting down the days to write. This goal of creating weekly videos was supposed to be a fun challenge for myself and it turned out to be a bit more daunting than I expected. Doing the math last year when I did some test runs I discovered that each talking head video took about 5 hours to make. So, it wasn’t going to be a huge stretch to add 5 hours a week to make videos about my path as a filmmaker. So, I set this challenge for myself because I’ve heard the benefits of YouTube for filmmakers and I felt like I had something to add to the conversation as an adventure filmmaker.
As time went on, I realized that creating these talking head videos didn’t result in the views or engagement I was hoping so I added more production quality into them. Which, also meant putting more time into them. Soon after starting this challenge, I created a “How to Film Skiing Masterclass” where I took a film team to the mountains with me as I talked through how I create my ski films. It added some more value and got a bit more views, but the series ended up April and I still had a long time until the end of the year.
So, I kept innovating…
Here are a few of my favorite YouTube videos from this past year
I made some videos about outdoor lifestyle marketing focused that didn’t do too well, then made some expedition style videos where I document a behind the scenes look at river surfing in Colorado and climbing in Utah. Those did a bit better but still not as great as I hoped. I filmed videos for my YouTube channel in Senegal, Canada, Nicaragua, Washington, Utah, Arkansas, Louisiana and Hawaii. I shared some branded documentary projects I had spent months to create, only to get a few hundred views. I made a video about “How to Film Rock Climbing” that did pretty well for me, with over 10,000 views in the first day, and other videos, like “How I (Almost) Won an Emmy” that got maybe 100 views in the first day.
As time went on, the scale of these YouTube videos began to increase. I was spending way more than 10 hours a week to create something I was proud of. Eventually, that took a toll on me because this wasn’t my full-time job. In fact, it wasn’t my job at all. I am a branded documentary filmmaker and made videos this year for some of the biggest names in the outdoor industry and some household names outside of the industry this year as well like a documentary series for Mazda and edited climbing films for HBO.
I would create those videos for other clients then have to crank hard to finish up a video for the YouTube channel because I believed in its success. But, over time, it began to really take a toll on me. It was exhausting and no longer fun. Not only did I not want to make videos for the Youtube channel anymore but it left me burnt out to continue making videos for my own clients. Nothing in my business faltered but it was increasingly difficult to handle this workload. Even with hiring an editor to take some of my videos across the finish line I still had to script, record, create thumbnails and upload them myself.
Gradually, I realized that in order to succeed on YouTube, you need to love making videos for YouTube and make consistently good videos. I know how to make consistency good videos since it’s been my full-time job for years now but I don’t always love making videos about myself for YouTube. It started to feel a bit empty and self-serving after a while. I want to share stories of other people doing amazing things in the outdoors and I’d rather poor my time into that.
Here are my YouTube Channel Statistics from one year of uploading every week…
(click on them to view them larger)
I learned a few things about social media and how to create videos for the internet that I want to share
List incoming…
If you don’t enjoy the process, you won’t enjoy the result.
Turn off your phone after 5pm and never check notifications before 9am
Shorts are the fastest way to grow a subscriber count, long-form videos are the best way to build a community.
Nobody cares unless you MAKE them care, ideally in the first 30 seconds.
If your video is good, people will watch it. If it’s not good, they’ll stop.
Comments on shorts are more mean than comments on long-form videos
The more negative comments you get the easier it is to dismiss them
Shorts are SIGNIFICANTLY easier to make and excel in than long-form videos.
For me, creating videos for and about myself often felt really selfish and unfulfilling compared to sharing interesting stories about others.
It’s really hard to make a good video every week. If you spend 40/hrs a week on a video you can do it but don’t expect a good video to come from limited efforts. There’s a reason massive documentary projects take years to create.
Thumbnails and titles feel are just as important as the video for getting people to watch. I’ve found minimalist thumbnails that are super defining with an interesting hook partnered with simple and clear titles do the best.
The first 30 seconds of a YouTube video is way more important than I expected. I started just cutting out intros and my views increased.
Monetization is really fun but understand that sustainable growth comes from enjoying the process and the income will follow - I did not always enjoy the process and so this income stream doesn’t seem very likely to me at this stage of my life.
Evergreen videos are way more powerful than low quality videos. One of my most viewed videos every month is a behind-the-scenes look at how I film surfing, from over 6 months ago. It’s still generating more views than my newest videos that I uploaded this month.
You get better at knowing what videos are going to perform well and which one’s won’t. If you know a video won’t perform well, sometimes you just have to upload to see because you may be wrong. I was wrong about my 5 Common Mistakes Adventure Filmmakers Make (more views than I thought) and my Adventure Filmmaking Gear Guide for 2024 (less views than I thought)
Youtube is a process you can only truly understand by experimenting yourself. It’s a skill that you can develop. I just have no interest in developing the skill further right now for my own channel.
Going viral is awesome.
Going viral isn’t awesome.
Don’t create a YouTube channel unless you really want to create YouTube videos.
Consistency doesn’t matter as much as I thought. Great videos matter and weekly uploads are fun but quality is more important than quantity. There were a select few who tuned in every Wednesday when I uploaded but you need to invest time for people to really enjoy your content, which means not weekly uploads unless you have a very basic tutorial or podcast style.
Long videos make more money than short videos. This is even true in how long of long-form you can get. 30 minute videos can make 3x more money than what a 10 minute video can make.
No income is truly passive. I’ll probably make $70/month for the next decade because of the work I put in this year but I put in sooooo much work this year.
I likely won’t return to posting on a consistent schedule but I do want to continue to post videos on YouTube, it just likely will be “bigger” projects that I feel more happy with.
When you commit to a weekly upload schedule, you have to upload when life is great and you have the time but you also have to still upload when life sucks and you don’t have time.
If you want to make tutorials, just understand that you become a teacher and you will have people online reach out to you to ask questions. Be ready for those questions and embrace that community but also understand that those people aren’t paying you for your email time so it will feel like a waste of time often… but that’s why you create tutorials - to teach.
I got my first brand deal request around 1500 subscribers, before my channel was monetized. I never accepted a brand deal because none of them were for over $200 but you do get offered some interesting things, even with a small channel.
Nothing is more important than time with loved ones
Youtube gives you a 1 out of 10 rating if it’s the highest performing video out of the last 10 you upload. Every Wednesday for a year I felt like my self worth was dictated by how close that number was to 1. I objectively had a more bummer day when it was a 10/10 upload. It was exhausting and I can only imagine how creators that do this for a living must feel - no wonder there’s so many BetterHelp sponsorships out there.
Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life is a saying I thought about often. I didn’t always love making YouTube videos and it definitely felt like work so I’m going back to making videos for clients who pay me fairly and provide me the creative freedom to tell interesting stories.
Alright, that’s enough for this somewhat public journal entry - in short, this was a really huge undertaking and I’m proud of myself for giving it a go. I learned a ton and felt like I grew as a filmmaker and editor but it was just way too much time and energy to balance with an already blossoming career. I want to devote my time and energy to continue to create meaningful documentaries and commercials for big brands and I don’t want to film videos in my office anymore - I want to slow down and create less, but better, videos.
If you want to work together to create a film that lives on YouTube but ISN’T for my own YouTube channel, let’s chat. I’m still a working filmmaker and while I don’t want to continue growing my own channel, I am passionate about using my knowledge and experience to help develop marketing strategies and videos for other companies.
Who Am I?
When I’m not on this website rambling on about filmmaking, I’m actually out there making films. From crafting memorable branded documentaries to capturing stories and products that move people, I’ve got you covered. Need a filmmaker who can scale mountains, brave the surf, or just tell a dang good story? Let’s chat!
In case I haven’t convinced you, here are three reasons why it might be fun to work together…
I believe in stories that stick with you - like campfire smoke on your clothes. The kind that makes you laugh, cry, or immediately want to call your mom.
I’m just as comfortable at 14,000ft as I am in front of a timeline. You get me in the mountains, in the ocean and in the editing room, making sure the magic out there really shines in the final cut.
I’ve filmed in some pretty wild places, but the best stories are the ones that bring people together. It’s those shared moments -big or small - that remind me why I love what I do.
Let’s Work Together!
Roo is an Emmy Nominated commercial/documentary filmmaker and photographer based in Boulder, Colorado but travels all around the world for his filmmaking career. He has directed documentaries for Patagonia in California, produced films for Outside Magazine throughout Europe and Africa, camera operated for Netflix in the Rocky Mountain West, and photographed among indigenous communities in South America, and has received notable recognition in his hometown of Orcas Island in Washington State for his work telling uplifting stories in the outdoor space.