1M YouTube Views Later …

Sep. 23

Here’s what I learned after publishing video tutorials on YouTube 2 years ago.

I just reached a milestone on my YouTube channel: 1M views! This may not sound like a lot to some, but to me, this was close to unfathomable.

When I started my channel, I was sure only my students would watch the videos. We just moved to exclusively online classes at the time, and I wanted to provide extra video tutorials for my students.

Of course, at some point, I thought, wouldn’t it be nice if other people besides my students watched the videos? After all, a 10-minute video takes me hours to prepare for, shoot, edit and finish.

In the first few days after publishing, I was sure it was only my students viewing the videos. But the view count started to jump by 20, then 50, then 100. I didn’t have 100 students. I distinctly remember jumping with glee when the videos got comments from people I didn’t know. That was surreal.

Fast forward to today, 1M views. That’s 1 with six zeroes. (Sorry this is me pinching myself). It’s still unbelievable. I’m happy, I am thrilled, and at the same time scared.

What does this mean to me? And what did I learn about myself through this journey?

It’s a learning process, and it’s not easy.

When I started, I was pretty clueless. I wasn’t sure what creating YouTube videos really entailed. I didn’t have a camera. I didn’t know anything about video editing. I didn’t have a good mic.

So I researched as much as I could, and I tried to hack my way to my first video. I researched more for my next videos, and thought that for each video I was getting more “pro”.

Music can elicit many emotions.

I was even getting the hang of putting background music on — as many “pro” YouTubers suggested newbies should pay attention to. Heck, I watched so much Peter McKinnon and even decided to use Epidemic Sound.

Wrong.

So … the background music was with the best intentions. But, it was the wrong choice for me, or at least for the content I was putting out.

I don’t mind these comments. I appreciate the honesty, but honestly, it does sting sometimes. It’s like having so much of your effort going down the drain … because of the background music.

At that time, I was just learning how to navigate YouTube. I just didn’t know any better. I thought the background music made better video tutorials. Many tutorials I watched had background music, and I personally liked them. Yes, I liked watching Peter McKinnon Premiere Pro tutorials — background music and all.

As I reflect back, it was the wrong choice for my channel. I was trying to do tutorials, and the safest way is to teach without the music. I thought I was being cool, but obviously, it (or I) turned out to be … not cool.

For anyone who’s dabbled with YouTube, you’ll know it’s not “easy” to just turn that music off. I can’t just swap out a video with another one that doesn’t have background music.

Lesson learned.

It’s a lot of hours and hard work.

It’s probably just me. It takes me hours to create a few minutes worth of videos. I research, I create slides, I create examples, I record (many many takes), and then I edit, and re-edit. Sometimes after I upload the video to YouTube, I realize something’s not right, I pull it down, make the changes, and do the edit cycle one more time. Not the most efficient process, but it’s the process that I have right now.

The camera is scary.

I tried. I really tried. In my head, it should be easy. I am used to talking to my students a few times a week, in person, and I have been doing this for years. I should be able to look that camera in the eye … err lens .. and just create the video.

Nope, no can do.

I’ve decided, for the sake of time and my sanity, I will stop trying. I’ve created less than a handful of videos with me in them, and that was that.

One of these days, maybe I will try again. For now, my faceless tutorials will continue.

We need to fight impostor syndrome.

I have many moments when I feel the impostor syndrome. I doubt what I know. I know there are many others out there who know this subject and software much better than I do.

I can come up with a list myself on why maybe I am not the best person to do this tutorial or that tutorial. Often times I have a debate going in my head. I am convinced that Pixar’s Inside Out movie is real.

When I am in this moment, I have learned to step back. Breathe. And convince myself that maybe, just maybe, what I have to offer is enough. I don’t have to be the expert-authoritative-master-of-the-universe.

I just have to be me. Teaching the topics my way, my words, my style … me.

It is rewarding.

So it has been two years. I learned a lot. It’s been a bumpy road, but I won’t change a thing.

I can see my past self creating the videos wee hours of the morning, late at night, on weekends, what have you.
I can remember putting pillows and blankets everywhere sound might come in.
I remember recording a whole segment — only to realize in post-production that my mic wasn’t on the whole time!

Lots of memories. Now, I look at the library of videos I created during that time, and I shamelessly give myself a pat on the back.

Thank you, younger me, for taking that first step.

I didn’t know where this was going to lead. I didn’t know if I was cut out for this YouTube thing. I thought of myself as an old-style teacher who preferred teaching with the whiteboard and flipcharts. I relied so much on seeing my students, watching body language, and anticipating questions based on furrowed eyebrows.

But, I am glad I tried. Creating YouTube videos has been a rewarding experience for me. It opened a new world that allowed me to meet so many people along the way.