Should I make videos for growth or personal fulfillment?

[TheEzeJC]

Hey I’m Eze,
I have recently been trying to get back to my YT channel after not recording for over a month, but I’m struggling deciding what to record. I want to grow my channel and have fun, but it seems I can only do one.
For example, I want to upload videos about smash bros, valorant, and mario games, but by doing so my channel will be too broad.
In the other hand, if I solely did something like Valorant videos I would benefit from the growth being apart of the community and subscribers would know what to expect.
I really want to grow my channel, but I also want to post things I enjoy playing. What should I do? Is there anything I can do to have both? I know once I’m big I can post anything, but even then I need a niche to continue growing. I’ve been at this 5 years and I have no idea what I’m doing still.
Currently I use twitch as my “random game” platform, but streaming does not give me the creativity I can do in recordings. Also, the time spent streaming there could be used growing my YT channel. Splitting my time between both is splitting my growth as well.
Any suggestions are appreciated,
Eze

 

[Gediphoto]

Hi Eze,

I might be a bit too old to give some helpful advice but here goes. I'm guessing that gamers are recording their gaming to (here's the old part) share the fun of gaming. I don't watch gamer channels, so I wouldn't know. But when I was a kid, back in the stone age, I remember having more fun watching a friend playing [any] game, then an unknown kid playing the same game.

Social media is a b***h in the aspect that everything is so narrow. "You need to specialize". I personally hate that, so I try to find a narrow/specialized field with lot's of opportunities to try stuff out (camping/hiking/photography for me).

My point here is, can you brand yourself and your channel so that YOU are the red thread instead of a specific game? Make people watch your content because you are playing the [any] game, and not let the game dictate your channel?

But then you have to have +100 in charisma and +100 in humor and that might just take out the fun in everything - who knows.

And now I'm blabbering, ok here's my advice in bullet form:

- Use yourself as the common denominator in your videos
- Be the "friend" that ppl love to watch playing games
- Engage your audience, don't make it one-way
- Be fun and entertaining
- Don't listen to old people giving you advice

Best of luck!

 

[Rhody Seth]

I personally think you should focus on videos that bring you joy and fulfillment. This isn't a job, it's a hobby and it should be enjoyable. I'm making videos that I enjoy watching and hopefully others will as well. But ultimately if I'm not enjoying the process then what's the point?

 

[mirrorlessNY(youtuber)]

ultimately if I'm not enjoying the process then what's the point?

bravo, especially considering that now it can be extremely hard(unlikely) to make it on YouTube, might as well make yourself happy & just maybe it will work out in some future

I really want to grow my channel, but I also want to post things I enjoy playing. What should I do? Is there anything I can do to have both?

there are options, obviously you can run separate channels focusing on more specific topics, but you can also try & blend things = kind of create/find a connection between several topics that may seem different but will be related when you point out that connection =for example I do some camera gear reviews which are generally filled with boring tech info, but I also create memorable travel videos, the dilemma was how to connect these two topics so they can stay on same channel = easy = use camera gear that was already reviewed to make the travel video = so I am basically testing camera gear to see how it functions/performs while capturing a personal memorable event at the same time

 

[cy's escapes]

If you don't focus on what you like or what drives you, I feel there is a greater chance of burning out and feeling more like a chore rather than fun.

If you feel like playing / showcasing a variety of games then do it and be the best at it and make it unique. Or do two, something to bounce back and forth from, allows you to continue to experiment with editing / content styles maybe and hopefully keeps you not bored.

 

[Nicekid76]

it's up to you though.
some of my "friends" are full-time YouTubers, they do it as their full-time income, so fun or not they are going to focus on making money.
Other friends do it to try to promote their brick and mortar stores
or to try to sell their services (hair salon)
or get bookings (public speaker and musician)
or as a resume tool(TV Show host and motion graphic and education).

Stepping away from Youtube for a second. My friend is an amazing photographer and nowadays people never ask to see his website or his portfolio they always ask for his Instagram... so suddenly now he's doing that as part of his job even if he doesn't like Instagram because it's a tool for what his actual goal is.
Me on the other hand, I basically never share my IG out because I want the freedom of doing whatever the heck I want on my IG.

It really depends. if it's a hobby than just have fun, get better, and create what you are proud of.
if you do it for money then you need to also put on your business owner hat. hopefully, still have fun but with a little more clickbait unfortunately

everyone does youtube for different reasons, but I don't think random people on the internet can tell you what your reason should be.

I do it as a hobby, but I also would love to jump ship and do youtube full time, but I don't want to cover youtube drama to grow my channel because I would be dead inside

THAT BEING SAID
I think you are more likely to grow doing what you like.
You have to make it clear why you are doing what you are doing and why people should care that you are doing that. People connect with "Why" more than they connect with "What".

Example:
What - I make cooking videos in my dorm room (not really)
Why - To show people that cooking is easy even with limited tools and resources / To help new freshmen actually have a healthy diet. idk

Your turn -
What do you do - You make videos of you playing many video game
Why do you do it - ?

Then make sure everyone watching your videos knows your why.

 

[TheEzeJC]

it's up to you though.
some of my "friends" are full-time YouTubers, they do it as their full-time income, so fun or not they are going to focus on making money.
Other friends do it to try to promote their brick and mortar stores
or to try to sell their services (hair salon)
or get bookings (public speaker and musician)
or as a resume tool(TV Show host and motion graphic and education).

Stepping away from Youtube for a second. My friend is an amazing photographer and nowadays people never ask to see his website or his portfolio they always ask for his Instagram... so suddenly now he's doing that as part of his job even if he doesn't like Instagram because it's a tool for what his actual goal is.
Me on the other hand, I basically never share my IG out because I want the freedom of doing whatever the heck I want on my IG.

It really depends. if it's a hobby than just have fun, get better, and create what you are proud of.
if you do it for money then you need to also put on your business owner hat. hopefully, still have fun but with a little more clickbait unfortunately

everyone does youtube for different reasons, but I don't think random people on the internet can tell you what your reason should be.

I do it as a hobby, but I also would love to jump ship and do youtube full time, but I don't want to cover youtube drama to grow my channel because I would be dead inside

THAT BEING SAID
I think you are more likely to grow doing what you like.
You have to make it clear why you are doing what you are doing and why people should care that you are doing that. People connect with "Why" more than they connect with "What".

Example:
What - I make cooking videos in my dorm room (not really)
Why - To show people that cooking is easy even with limited tools and resources / To help new freshmen actually have a healthy diet. idk

Your turn -
What do you do - You make videos of you playing many video game
Why do you do it - ?

Then make sure everyone watching your videos knows your why.

That format is very good. I’ll see if I can fill in the blanks.

 

[MyLumoLife]

I think personal fulfillment before growth. If you enjoy what you do, it won't feel like a chore to make videos and you can be consistent. Growth ultimately depends on the YT algorithm putting your video before viewers, and whether those viewers want to see your videos, both of which are largely out of your hands.

 

[Dutchie Abroad]

A lot of things have already been said, so I'm just going to focus on the content aspect;

If you want to play many games, but also maintain within a niche, it might be worth starting up a series. Like doing certain games within a limited play time (Mario bros in 15 min, Fall Guys in 15 min, etc). Try to come up with creative series that you can apply to many games, giving yourself lots of versatility while also providing your audience with that 'I know what to expect from this channel' feeling. If your audience really digs a certain series, they might even start suggesting you games you can play within the set format. Some ideas just off the top of my head:

- 'Blind' playthroughs (no looking up anything)
- Timed playthroughs
- Limiting yourself to 1 weapon
- Banning the use of a certain ability
- Physical handicaps (one hand, one eye, etc)

Hope this helps