How to Know When to Quit?

[Noobzilla]

 

[Miss Medi]

I already took a break during the summer and my channel is worse off than ever.[DOUBLEPOST=1485779959,1485779704][/DOUBLEPOST]

Of course you can't expect it. The question I'm asking is how to know when to quit, as in: when do you realize it's NOT connecting and NOT working and to stop?

Honestly, only you know the answer to that. From reading this thread you seem quite close to stopping. Stopping isn't the only option though, if you're not enjoying what you do, you can change it completely. Einstein said the definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result - you never know it's your channel at the end if the day and you can do whatever you want. Good luck though, I wish you loads of luck (and personally hope you give it a go)

 

[Cidsa]

Thanks for the answers. I do really like Youtube but I suffer from quite a lot of depression so it's easy to fall into the trap of telling myself I'm no good and should quit. I have the added stress of Youtube kind of being all I've got now as I've become unable to work.

I do keep saying "well I just have to keep doing it" but I do know continously expending energy on something that isn't working is not a smart way to work. I've seen my channel plateau the last few months even though I've been more consistent, so it kinda felt like a signal people don't like it.

But I guess it's pretty difficult to know if it's just sitting in obscurity or if it really is bad though :x

 

[TheDutchTexan]

Hey all! I've been working on my YouTube channel for a while and I've been feeling pretty down on it later. I did really well initially but it's really slowed down despite me becoming more consistent and trying to do SEO better.

My question is.. how do I know when it's just not working and I should give up? I really like making my videos but it's definitely painful when I work so hard and have little to show for it. My content is (mostly silly) reviews of older games so I'm hardly on the bleeding edge but I kind of hoped I'd hook in more of that niche audience that enjoys these sorts of things.

Just kind of at a loss at the moment, I suppose.

I am there, I even made a video about it recently, explaining what was going on with me and the lack of uploads. The best thing is taking a step back. If you are not big after the first few months it is highly unlikely you will make it to the big leagues. You have to be happy with it from a hobby perspective. I refuse to waste my time on things I do not like. So I took a hiatus. I will continue YouTube, but will only create the content I want to create. I will not force myself.

 

[Miss Medi]

Thanks for the answers. I do really like Youtube but I suffer from quite a lot of depression so it's easy to fall into the trap of telling myself I'm no good and should quit. I have the added stress of Youtube kind of being all I've got now as I've become unable to work.

I do keep saying "well I just have to keep doing it" but I do know continously expending energy on something that isn't working is not a smart way to work. I've seen my channel plateau the last few months even though I've been more consistent, so it kinda felt like a signal people don't like it.

But I guess it's pretty difficult to know if it's just sitting in obscurity or if it really is bad though :x

It's not bad at all - I really liked your channel when I checked it out and you get good views. Honestly if you've been feeling low or uncertain I didn't get that at all from watching your vids. Depression is a b***h, I hope you feel better soon.

 

[xingcat]

You seem to be on a false thread of logic. "If what I'm doing isn't working, should I give up?" isn't the question you should be asking, it's, "What am I doing that's not working for me?"

It seems like you already have at least one answer to that, which is that you review or play games that aren't new, so there's that. There are also pages and pages of strategy that are written here and elsewhere for building an audience. Saying that you are doing everything right isn't really correct, when you consider that there are a lot of channels out there who are larger than you who are probably just uploading for fun. So something isn't resonating with the people you're trying to reach, or your videos aren't getting to them in the first place. So that's somewhere else to look. SEO is a good place to start...when you are about to upload a video on a game, do you check to see what the #1 video is about that game and then replicate certain aspects of how they describe, tag, and title those videos, etc.?

Getting an audience is a lot of work. If it's not worthwhile for you to make videos for the joy of making videos, then it's time to consistently make alterations to your approach and test assertions about what's working and what isn't, until you find a path that gets you some better results.

 

[Cidsa]

Xingcat, that's really what I meant. I guess I should've said "Should I quit doing what I'm doing" instead of just outright quitting.

I've already been researching stuff but there's only so much I can do. I don't have access to the biggest games as the biggest channels get them early and will kill videos dead (I've already tried this, it was significantly worse than just focusing on old stuff.)

I've honestly been planning on focusing on streaming more than Youtube because it's more fun to me but it is a lot harder.[DOUBLEPOST=1485826163,1485826097][/DOUBLEPOST]

It's not bad at all - I really liked your channel when I checked it out and you get good views. Honestly if you've been feeling low or uncertain I didn't get that at all from watching your vids. Depression is a b***h, I hope you feel better soon.

Thanks Medi. I don't always feel as badly and I'm able to keep it out of recording but yeah. Thanks for the well wishes but I've had this for 20 years now so it's what it is.

I honestly would just like something to happen so I can get help for my extremely painful dental bills

 

[xingcat]

I've already been researching stuff but there's only so much I can do. I don't have access to the biggest games as the biggest channels get them early and will kill videos dead (I've already tried this, it was significantly worse than just focusing on old stuff.)

Okay, so "newer games" aren't on the list. There are a lot of gamers who make videos about older games (Caddicarus, Errant Signal, Folding Ideas are three that come to mind for me, and I'm not a gamer). They focus on longer-form essays about games, so there's an option.

You say you're consistent, but over the past year, you haven't uploaded more than once a week, and there have been weeks where you haven't had an upload, so I'd say another avenue would be more frequent uploads.

Yes, livestreaming is hard, but that's also where the money seems to be these days, so I'd give that a try as well.

Mostly, it's about putting in what you can and being as flexible as possible, if you want to make it.

 

[Cidsa]

Okay, so "newer games" aren't on the list. There are a lot of gamers who make videos about older games (Caddicarus, Errant Signal, Folding Ideas are three that come to mind for me, and I'm not a gamer). They focus on longer-form essays about games, so there's an option.

You say you're consistent, but over the past year, you haven't uploaded more than once a week, and there have been weeks where you haven't had an upload, so I'd say another avenue would be more frequent uploads.

Yes, livestreaming is hard, but that's also where the money seems to be these days, so I'd give that a try as well.

Mostly, it's about putting in what you can and being as flexible as possible, if you want to make it.

The ones I follow are more like YMS, ClassicGameRoom, etc. Caddicarus is a lot more comedy focused ala JonTron and that's not content I'm able to make, I'm not really a comedian. I've been planning to expand my videos more but I've been waiting to move for 9 months.. that's finally happening this week.

I've been more consistent the past few months, not the past year. I've gotten up to 2-3 times a week this month which has been extremely difficult for me (I can only record in the middle of the night because my grandfather is too loud during the day, he has dementia.)

I've noticed that even as I've increased uploads, my views have decreased exponentially. When I was uploading far less, I was doing a lot better, hence the confusion.[DOUBLEPOST=1485830722,1485826827][/DOUBLEPOST]Anyways, thanks for the help all. I'll just keep trying to figure out what works and what doesn't, it's so mystifying but hey.

Sorry for being kind of a downer, sometimes my depression really gets at me and I feel incredibly down on myself and the things I make. Hard to keep at it when your brain says you suck haha.

 

[Backyard Ninja Kids]

Ugh! Reading through your posts. That's tough! Time is a limited resource for sure. I've felt that way sometimes. I usually ask myself one question ... "Why?" Why am I doing it? Why am I wanting people to watch my videos? Why am I spending the time? Hang in there if you love what you are doing!