If you are thinking about becoming a YouTube creator because you have visions of fame, fortune, thousands of subscribers, and money rolling into your bank account while you sit back and admire your success, let me give you a few home truths.
It probably isn't going to happen quite like that. 😂
I'm speaking from experience.
Take one of my recent videos. It has now been live on YouTube for six days. Without going into all the finer details, it took me around five days, or approximately 40 hours, to produce.
That included researching the subject, writing the script, travelling to the location, filming, capturing aerial footage, recording everything I needed, travelling home, editing the video and doing all the post-production that goes on behind the scenes.
Then there is the cost of actually getting there.
With the current price of petrol, the journey there and back cost me approximately £25 in fuel.
So, after around 40 hours of work and £25 spent on fuel, what did I get for my efforts?
Well... 233 views.
And approximately 600 minutes of watch time.
And my financial reward?
A magnificent 18 pence. Yes, eighteen whole pence.
I could almost hear the champagne corks popping. 😂
Welcome to YouTube
This is where anyone thinking about becoming a YouTube creator needs to understand something.
YouTube isn't simply a case of picking up a camera, making a few videos and waiting for the money to roll in.
There are millions of videos being uploaded, and you are competing for people's attention against professional production companies, television programmes, celebrities, influencers and thousands upon thousands of other ordinary people doing exactly what you are doing.
Getting noticed is difficult.
Getting subscribers is difficult.
Getting consistent views is difficult.
And making meaningful money from it?
That's a whole different ball game.
My problem is that I don't have just one niche
There is another potential problem with what I do.
I don't really have a single, neatly defined YouTube niche.
David Wilson Out and About is about... well, me going out and about. 😂
One week, I might be exploring a Kent village and researching its history.
Next, I might be visiting an ancient church or historic building.
Another video might involve a day hike through the Kent countryside.
Then I could be out kayaking along the River Medway or exploring another stretch of water.
I might be filming a historic location, investigating an old building, visiting a place I've driven past for decades, or simply getting out into the countryside with a camera.
Then there is my fishkeeping hobby, which occasionally makes its way into my content as well.
I also have an ongoing interest in cameras, drones, and other equipment that help me pursue all of these interests.
In other words, I don't have a channel where every video is aimed at precisely the same audience.
From a purely commercial YouTube perspective, that probably isn't the cleverest strategy.
But there is a reason for it.
I'm not creating content simply to satisfy an algorithm.
I'm creating videos about the things that interest me.
I'm not interested in the YouTube conveyor belt
And there is another thing I deliberately don't do.
I don't churn out endless copycat-style review videos simply because a particular product is currently getting views.
You know the sort of thing.
A new gadget is released.
Within days, there are dozens of almost identical videos appearing.
"10 Things You Need to Know!"
"My Honest Review!"
"You Won't Believe This!"
"Is It Actually Worth Buying?"
Then another product comes along, and the whole process starts again.
For some creators, that's their business, and fair play to them. If it works, it works.
But it isn't me.
I don't want to sit on a conveyor belt producing one review after another simply because that's what the algorithm appears to favour that week.
If I review something, it is generally because I've actually bought it, used it, and have something genuine to say about it.
The same applies to the places I visit.
I don't want to manufacture videos simply because I think YouTube needs another upload.
I'd rather spend several days researching something properly, go out and experience it for myself, film it properly, and then produce something I'm genuinely proud of.
That takes time.
Quite a lot of time.
And it doesn't necessarily produce a lot of views.
My age doesn't exactly help either
Then there is the small matter of my age.
I'm in my late sixties.
I'm not a 25-year-old social media influencer with an enormous following and a team of people behind me.
I'm a retired bloke who spends his spare time driving around Kent with cameras and drones, walking through villages, exploring historic locations, going hiking, kayaking, keeping fish, and generally finding excuses to get out of the house.
I'm certainly not going to pretend to be something I'm not simply because it might perform better on YouTube.
And perhaps that is one of the reasons my channel has grown organically.
People know what they're getting.
Me.
No manufactured persona.
No fake enthusiasm.
No pretending that every £20 gadget has changed my life.
No jumping on every passing internet trend.
Just a bloke who enjoys getting out and about and sharing what he discovers along the way.
And yes, I'm male
There is also the reality that I'm a bloke.
That might sound strange to mention, but demographics matter on social media.
There are certain niches where younger creators, female creators, or particular personalities naturally attract larger audiences.
Being an older male creator producing content about Kentish villages, historic churches, countryside walks, kayaking, local history, buildings, fishkeeping, and assorted adventures probably isn't the recipe for instant viral success.
But again, I'm not particularly bothered.
I'd rather have a smaller audience who genuinely enjoy what I do than build a huge audience by turning myself into somebody I'm not.
And my subject matter isn't exactly mainstream
Let's face it, there isn't a huge worldwide audience desperately waiting for a 20-minute documentary about a small village in Kent.
There are only so many people who are interested in the history of an obscure church, an old bridge, a historic building, or a particular stretch of the River Medway.
That's the downside of having a fairly specialised subject.
The potential audience is smaller.
But the upside is that the people who do watch are often genuinely interested.
And that's far more rewarding than having thousands of people click on a video, watch for 30 seconds, and disappear.
The algorithm doesn't care about your petrol bill
This is another thing aspiring creators soon discover.
YouTube doesn't care how long your video took to make.
It doesn't know that you spent five days researching it.
It doesn't care that you drove for an hour and spent £25 on fuel.
It doesn't know that you spent hours filming.
It doesn't care that you stood around waiting for the right light.
It doesn't know that you've spent another ten hours editing the footage.
It certainly doesn't care that you've spent hundreds or thousands of pounds over the years on cameras, drones, microphones, computers, storage, and everything else required to produce the content.
The algorithm sees a video.
It looks at things such as whether people click on it, how long they watch, whether they continue watching, and how viewers respond.
That's it.
You can spend 40 hours producing something you're immensely proud of, and YouTube can effectively say:
"That's nice. 233 people watched it."😂
So why bother?
That's probably the most important question.
Why would anybody spend 40 hours producing a video that earns 18 pence?
Because I enjoy it.
And that completely changes the equation.
I classify what I do as a hobby, not a business.
Like most hobbies, it costs me money.
Someone might spend their spare time playing golf and spend hundreds of pounds on clubs, memberships, and green fees.
Someone else might go fishing and spend money on rods, reels, and tackle.
Someone might restore an old car and pour thousands of pounds into it.
I spend my spare time driving around Kent, exploring villages, historic locations, and buildings, walking through the countryside, kayaking, keeping fish, researching local history, taking photographs, flying drones, and making videos.
And yes, it costs me money.
But so do most hobbies.
The difference is that occasionally YouTube gives me a few pennies back.
Very occasionally. 😂
The 40 hours don't matter
People sometimes look at the amount of time I spend producing a video and say:
"You spent five days making that? You could never make money at that rate."
And they're absolutely right.
If I were treating this as a business, I'd probably have given up a long time ago.
But I'm not.
The 40 hours don't matter because I wasn't sitting there thinking:
"I must make 40 hours' worth of wages from this."
I was doing something I enjoy.
I was learning something.
I was exploring somewhere.
I was getting out into the countryside.
I was kayaking.
I was walking.
I was researching history.
I was filming.
I was flying the drone.
I was playing with cameras.
I was keeping fish.
And eventually I ended up with a video that I could share with other people.
That's the reward.
The 18 pence is merely the icing on a very, very small cake. 😂
Don't start YouTube expecting fame and fortune
So if you're thinking about becoming a YouTube creator, by all means, give it a go.
But don't start because you think it's an easy way to make money.
Don't buy £3,000 worth of camera equipment before you've made your first video.
Don't assume that because somebody else has 500,000 subscribers, you will too.
Don't expect the algorithm to suddenly discover you.
And don't measure your enjoyment of creating content entirely by the number of views you receive.
Most importantly, don't assume that you have to become a human content factory.
You don't have to churn out three videos a week.
You don't have to jump on every trend.
You don't have to make endless copycat reviews.
You don't have to turn your hobby into a conveyor belt simply because someone tells you that's what the YouTube algorithm wants.
Sometimes it is perfectly acceptable to spend several days making one video you are genuinely proud of.
Because you might spend five days making something you're incredibly proud of and six days later, discover that 233 people have watched it and you've earned 18 pence. 😂
But if you enjoyed making it, learned something, explored somewhere new, and produced something you're proud of, perhaps you've already got your money's worth.
That's how I look at David Wilson Out and About.
It's not a business empire.
It's not a get-rich-quick scheme.
It's not a quest for fame.
And it's certainly not a conveyor-belt content factory.
It's simply an extension of the things I enjoy doing.
I get to explore Kent, discover its history, visit beautiful villages and churches, walk the countryside, go kayaking, investigate historic locations and buildings, keep my fish, experiment with cameras and drones, and share my experiences with whoever happens to be interested.
And if YouTube occasionally throws a few pennies my way, well...
I'll put the kettle on. 😂
Because at the end of the day, the most important thing isn't how much money I make from doing it.
I enjoy it.
And that's what makes it a hobby. 😁
