No YouTube Channel for Me

A number of people have asked me if I’m going to start a YouTube channel. In short, no. It’s a huge time commitment. To do it right requires an investment in good equipment. Then there’s the big issue that YouTube can’t be trusted not to demonetize your channel. Too many people have put in time and effort building a channel only to have it destroyed by YouTube.

In my case there would be a huge learning curve. I don’t even video things with my cell phone. A major issue is the fact that I could either do things or do video. Here’s an example how that works. This past spring my daughter and her husband bought a classic tow behind camper. They were looking for a fixer upper that they could seriously glam up. They found one for a good price, but it certainly needed a lot of work. At first they thought it would be pretty neat to document the whole thing and put it on a YouTube channel. Then they realized how much filming slows the work down. Instead of spending all that time filming they put all their energies into the rebuild. The camper was ready for Independence Day camping. Had they tried to video everything my daughter estimated the project would have taken two years. They’d rather go camping.

I don’t have anything against being on YouTube. In fact, there’s video of me floating around out there already. I was part of panel discussion that was filmed. All I had to do was show up and open my big mouth. Other people provided the cameras and the expertise.

A few people have come to me with various ideas for YouTube channels. A lot of those ideas were brilliant. Here’s the issue, just about everyone has at least one very good idea for a video. Few people have the drive and ability to make good video day after day.

-Sixbears