EEVblog Changes?

[EEVblog]

So, it's that time again I start thinking about stuff...
I've been thinking about what I can do make the channel better and more productive. Not that the channel is dying, but it's clearly been on a slide over the last few years.

Nothing serious, it's just that average views continue to decline as hundreds of new electronics channels come online resulting in an inevitable dilution of views across channels and people have more choice.
I'm not alone in this, other electronics channels have seen it to. Not to mention that because I'm an "eclectic" channel with over a dozens different types of styles of content, it gets harder to maintain that sub-to-view ration and keep everyone happy.
Subs continue to grow linearly as they always have, but the views per video on average are dropping.
Maybe it's just reduced time and/or enthusiasm for me to do things. Not that I'm still not enthusiastic, but I do realise I spend a lot of time in the lab watching Youtube videos instead of making them, as I might spend a few hours doing something and then think "we'll I don't have enough time to start that video today, so I'll start tomorrow. Tomorrow coems and somethign else comes up, rinse and repeat.

Financially it's not really a problem, my store is still brining in really good income. In fact it's more popular than ever after I switched to Shopify. So popular in fact that it's draning more and more of my time.

So I know that unless try to make some sort of active change, things will continue to meander along as they have been and slowly shrinking rather than growing.

What that change required is I don't know and is kind of the point of this post.
Here are some radical things I've been thinking about:

• Hire someone again full time to help out and provide extra resources to help with videos and extra content and packaing and shipping etc. NOT focussed on product design as we did previosuly with David2. But someone who's goal is to help with content. I think I did a thread once on whether or not funding this with sponsored videos would be a good idea or not, but I can't find it.
• Hire someone part time to do the packing and shipping like I have done previously. This is actually hard as it's barely an hour a day, and I don't like the idea of someone coming in to just do a few packages to save me 20 minutes or whatever. But if I hired someoen full time they would obviously take over this.
• Invest in buying another office space nearby to give me extra room for future expansion and also a better forced delineation between the lab and editing and shipping. I used to rent that extra smaller 2nd 33sqm space for editing and apart from being a bit inconvenient, it kinda worked. Also a window and fresh air would be damn nice and perhaps a good motivator. It's a very substantial financial step, but nothign ventured, nothing gained as they say. BTW, buying one big new lab is out of the question, too expensive

One thing I know isn't going to work is the "just focus on these types of videos and they'll be popular" type of comment. It's not that.
I feel as though something has to change, even if it's just renewed motivation and time optimisation in some way...

Comments invited.

[EEVblog]

Coincidentaly Fran talks about a similar thing in her latest video:

[ataradov]

I sure know why I mostly stopped watching. I personally switched to channels that work on actual project, may be even long term projects split over many months or years. It does not have to be a plan to commercialize something, but it must be plan to complete it. Those things let you learn something as there is a concrete goal. A lot of those channels are not even electronics related, but the actual topic does not matter as much as some sort of a stake for the creator.

The typical type of content is far too predictable and not that interesting. Finding some random widget, disassembling it while providing generic criticism only goes so far. And not spending any time even trying to make interesting things sent in the mailbag work is just frustrating to watch.

[IanB]

I think it is very difficult to maintain viewer interest in a YT channel forever, or even over the long run. Eventually everything to say has been said, the novelty wears off, and people move on. If I think about (British) TV, there are a few topical programmes that maintained viewers year after year (Top of the Pops, Top Gear, Tomorrow's World to name a few), but even they eventually came to the end of their run for one reason or another.

When I have subscribed to a channel, my interest has generally only lasted for 2-4 years, depending on the subject matter. The channels that have maintained my interest the longest are ones that follow a journey, through life, through business, through new and different topics.

To give an example, Matthias Wandel has exhausted his early wood-working and home-made tools content and he posts way less these days, but when he does post he tries to make it new and different, for example: scientific experiments, or related to his children, or exploring electronics instead of wood, or seeing how mice can navigate mazes and squeeze through tiny holes, or doing things he said he would never do. Recently he has been doing interesting stuff with stepper motors and servos, which I watch because it is a new topic, and he doesn't just play around with them, he has been teaching how they work and what their limitations are, and why you might choose between one kind or another.

Obviously you don't want to copy someone else, but perhaps the moral would be to keep it fresh. Are you the "Dave Jones Channel" or the "Electronics Engineering Channel"?

[EEVblog]

I sure know why I mostly stopped watching. I personally switched to channels that work on actual project, may be even long term projects split over many months or years.

My channel has never been about that, apart from that one big series on the PSU project design(s), and literally a couple of small ones.

And not spending any time even trying to make interesting things sent in the mailbag work is just frustrating to watch.

Again, the Mailbag has never been about doing that, for hundreds of episodes.

So I'm not sure exactly what you think my channel was, but I know what you mean. Thanks.

[EEVblog]

BTW, for those who aren't aware, the majority of my income comes from the store, not Youtube.
And it's one of those awkward situations where that aspect of the business is just big enough to be an annoyance on my time every day (in terms of the channel), yet small enough to almost not warrant hiring someone to do it, and/or getting a space dedicated to it.
Yet I also want to expand it, because from a business financial aspect it's the biggest part of my business income and hence would be the obvious thing to expand for future continued success.
So I could use the excuse of expanind the store and taking it more seriously but getting an place for it, and then also using that for the benefits of work separation as I mentioned.
And no, I don't want to 100% outsource it to some drop shipping company.

[Muttley Snickers]

I think this might be that thread you were after.   

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/poll-eevlabs/

[wilfred]

I sure know why I mostly stopped watching. I personally switched to channels that work on actual project, may be even long term projects split over many months or years. It does not have to be a plan to commercialize something, but it must be plan to complete it. Those things let you learn something as there is a concrete goal. A lot of those channels are not even electronics related, but the actual topic does not matter as much as some sort of a stake for the creator.

The typical type of content is far too predictable and not that interesting. Finding some random widget, disassembling it while providing generic criticism only goes so far. And not spending any time even trying to make interesting things sent in the mailbag work is just frustrating to watch.

This pretty much says it all for me as well. The channels that attract and keep my interest are ones where a project gets completed and the struggles are shown as part of the drama. Seeing someone else get something done to completion helps motivate me. They also have to value my time. It helps If I feel I am learning.

A couple examples are Cutting Edge Engineering and Farmcraft101 and Backshed. I'll never rebuild heavy equipment like CEE or struggle rebuilding an old excavator or get and old car back on the road. Although I am repairing mine at present after procrastinating for far too long.

I think for me the biggest turn-off is when channels fall victim to the YT algorithm and I become super aware of it. Either the video get too long with filler and waste my time or they become repetitive and then also waste my time. Whatever the creators subject is I want to see real human drama with obstacles overcome and problems solved. That's why I watch what I watch.

[brucehoult]

BTW, for those who aren't aware, the majority of my income comes from the store, not Youtube.

If you can get the bills paid with less than an hour's work a day and anything else is icing then that sounds ideal!

I've actually never been an eevblog YouTube watcher ... I watched the Lee Felsenstein interview, but anything else has been very random and infrequent.

I came here because I bought a new bit of kit in January 2017 and googled for where people were discussing it (and related things). The forum is great. Maybe you should charge for it. There have got to be at least a couple of thousand people who would pay $1 a month. Certainly I would.

[EEVblog]

I think for me the biggest turn-off is when channels fall victim to the YT algorithm and I become super aware of it. Either the video get too long with filler and waste my time or they become repetitive and then also waste my time. Whatever the creators subject is I want to see real human drama with obstacles overcome and problems solved. That's why I watch what I watch.

In my case i have never "chased the algorithm"

[EEVblog]

BTW, for those who aren't aware, the majority of my income comes from the store, not Youtube.

If you can get the bills paid with less than an hour's work a day and anything else is icing then that sounds ideal!

In theory the store only exists and works because of the popularity of my Youtube, yet I hardly ever actuallly advertise or actively promote it. Orders just keep rolling in, it's rather strange actually...

I came here because I bought a new bit of kit in January 2017 and googled for where people were discussing it (and related things). The forum is great. Maybe you should charge for it. There have got to be at least a couple of thousand people who would pay $1 a month. Certainly I would.

The forum ads pay for the server costs. And quite a few people donate to get access to the private supporters section. So no need for any subscription. It would have to be desperate times to change that.

[jpyeron]

Personally, I wish you rethought some of your sponsored video decisions.

I think if you maintain your independence and personality - while doing paid work on camera - it can be a win-win.

Months ago I was looking for an EE to work a design, posted here about paying you... (I was looking have you leverage your knowledge and opinions on a work project that could be open sourced , e.g. not core business area or trade sensitive)

I can only imagine that there is a reasonable  amount of acceptable work that can translate into revenue to offset one of you full time hiring thoughts above.

[EEVblog]

Personally, I wish you rethought some of your sponsored video decisions.
I think if you maintain your independence and personality - while doing paid work on camera - it can be a win-win.

Why would I go back to effectively "working for the man" again if I don't have to?

Months ago I was looking for an EE to work a design, posted here about paying you... (I was looking have you leverage your knowledge and opinions on a work project that could be open sourced , e.g. not core business area or trade sensitive)

I don't do paid contract design work any more.  Been there, done that.
Actually, doing a paid sponsor spot would be better than doing paid contract work. It would pay way better in $$$/hour.
You can bet that if I was falling on hard times financially then I would be taking those video sponsor deals.
Some Youtubers like Fran for example would rather let her channel die than take video sponsors, but I'd do it if I had to.
I have the brief idea to start a Linus Tech Tips style review channel paid by sponsorships.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/poll-eevlabs/

[jpyeron]

You can still charge "$$$/hour" or whatever makes you happy

[EEVblog]

You can still charge "$$$/hour" or whatever makes you happy

What makes me happy is not having to charge $$$/hour for someone to tell me what to do. If it did, I'd take the countless contract design offers I get.

[AVGresponding]

As far as the type of videos goes, I would say, make ones on subjects you have enthusiasm for. Can't stand watching people "going through the motions", but I will watch things that are completely new to me, if the presenter has enthusiasm as well as knowledge.

[jpanhalt]

Source: EEVBlog

One thing I know isn't going to work is the "just focus on these types of videos and they'll be popular" type of comment.

I'll try to avoid doing that.  You know what you want to do.  Do you need to change and why?

Jack Welch (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Welch) was a legendary American businessman.  After he retired, his hobby became going to various businesses and trying to figure out what their key (shtick) to success was.  Years before that, I had done the same in dealing with a pathology residency program in a new job.  New trainees compete against each other for the best programs, and the various programs likewise competed for the best applicants.  We had a good program but were failing to get good applicants to rank us highly enough to match.  The key was identifying what our competitors had that we didn't have and what we could do that they weren't doing.  Our competitors were often big name places, like the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.  We didn't have such a big name, but our program was sound.  The key turned out to be putting an emphasis on a subdiscipline called Clinical Pathology (aka Laboratory Medicine).  That made a huge difference.  We only had 4 positions, yet me matched on our top 5 rankings.  I was able to find the money to fund all 5.  In other words, I identified a need to change and was lucky to identify what I could do to effect that.  So, what's your shtick?

Again, I am not trying to tell you the type of videos to make.  Years ago, you made a short series of videos about entry level oscilloscopes.  I was looking to supplement my TDS210.  Specifically, you compared the Rigol and Siglent.  I believe it was quite popular based on the number of citations I saw on other sites.  You introduced me to the term, "Siglent rust," and I bought the Rigol.  Did Siglent contact you about that?

Like ataradov, I like projects or focused subjects (e.g., op-amps, impedance matching).  Clough42 has a long series on making an electronic leadscrew for a lathe.  That is one of a few YT series I have watched almost in its entirety.  Teardowns are OK, so long as they provide more information than just what's inside the box.  What turns me off are videos that seem to have no purpose, such as a 20kW microwave and exploding capacitors.  The other thing is politics.  Ladyada/Adafruit got into a bit of that.

Disclosure:  I don't subscribe to any YT channel.  I am just too project oriented.  I find and watch what is relevant to me at the time.

[robert.rozee]

hi Dave,
    a few suggestions, in (honestly!) no particular order:

• have shorter videos, 10 minutes to 20 minutes (max). if necessary, split into several parts - not only does this make the job of filming them easier when spread out over several sessions, it gives viewers something to look forward to as subsequent parts are released. i hate to admit it, but many of your longer videos i tend to end up jumping over major sections just because of the overall length.
• have some videos of the form: "send my your X, i'll do a video about it, then send your X back to you". this would, of course, have to be by prior arrangement only. quite often folks will have an interesting bit of kit, and be real keen to share about it with others, but not be willing to donate it to the cause. in many situations the postage cost may be prohibitive, but in some it may be workable.
• have a few more project (uCurrent, uSupply, uWatch) videos, but make them projects that average people can build using easilly obtained parts. an example: combining an FM radio module, audio amp, microcontroller to handle tuning etc. other examples could be various pieces of test equipment. i'm well aware that electronics magazines used to run articles along similar lines in the olden days, and am also very aware that the vast majority of readers never built said magazine projects. perhaps think about ways of making this work so that many viewers do build the projects.
• bring 'drop shipping' into the store, so folks can buy things from China while still having some reasonable assurance of quality. the rationale being: many folks refuse to buy cheap electronic parts etc from chinese sources on the likes of ebay because they are certain that they will be ripped off or sent junk. the down side is this would involve building up relationships with Chinese suppliers, and could be quite time consuming.
• somehow 'moderate' your australian accent. i really don't want to offend, but to the ear of a 1st generation kiwi from a british background your voice carries a perpetual sense of urgency and enthusiasm that is exhausting after 10 minutes. all i can say is, try presenting your videos as if you are reading the marine weather forecast.

cheers,
rob   :-)

[NE666]

You said early on that your primary revenue stream, your store, is healthy and growing. So, commit. Commit to the thing which is demonstrably working well for you, and take time from that which isn't.

When it comes to falling viewing figures, you already understand why; the recent proliferation of other high-quality channels. The effects of that are further heightened by many of those channels having strongly differentiated subject area focus e.g. 8-bit/legacy computing, microcontrollers, test instrumentation and metrology, 'boat anchor hospitals' etc., with folks naturally gravitating towards channels that routinely address their own specific interests. It's an arms race, which might be won but only at significant cost and risk.

[hans]

Maybe this is cliche again:
When I started watching this channel when the episode count was still in the 20s or 30s, I was studying EE with a self-taught SW background. This channel helped a lot in showing how HW design and testing is done, because in the early days there were some (lengthy) videos on design and experiments. I loved watching those, because back in the 2000s we didn't always had Arduino's and whatnot.. so you put a DIP PIC16 in a breadboard, programmed it from scratch, and then went fault finding for hours because you swapped the TX/RX wires.

Nowadays I do think a lot of new engineers/makers have shifted over to mostly firmware and software magic. If you wander around makerspaces or FabLabs you'll rarely see people building their own HW anymore. They breadboard something together with an Arduino or RPi Pico and the infinite supply of cheap shields from various vendors. There is very little need for any equipment at all.. a simple DMM and soldering iron is often enough. Certainly I was one of the few to get the bench supply and oscilloscope out for some robotics project at my local FabLab. Usually people around such places get excited when they find a new shield that is priced at 10$ which does all the dirty laundry for them. They will 3D print a case/bracket around things and their hobby project done.

I think the people that remain connected to actually understanding how electronics works are a lot more into advanced stuff you cannot buy off the shelf. RF, high bandwidth, high precision, low-noise, FPGAs, that kind of stuff. And with that it makes it a two way street; see how well content does as the maker kind of audience (which won't abide to the "you shall measure voltages" rule when a problem appears), of focus on the EE specialists that still want to see what a 12-bit oscilloscope can do for them.

However, with all respect, I do think there are some channels out there that also cover those topics really well. Thinking of TSP for example. And also that channel only went from 118k to 127k subscribers in 1 year time. So maybe we're just in short supply..

Or diverge into other kind of content. But I think you've done that already to some degree with the whiteboards or debunking videos. However I think these videos also attract a particular niche audience and may 'push' away some other audience.. At this point I think your subscribed audience may be quite diverse which will only watch a certain kind of content. I don't think a niche channel such as EEVblog will attract views simply because of a host personality that much..

[madires]

I think viewers are focusing on their specific field of interest. An increasing number of subscribers means that they like your content, but they'll watch mostly videos matching their interest.

[eleguy]

Not now saying you only do videos under these subjects but there are just so many "review this" or "teardown that" channels around here and there. I do respect when publisher ("the creator") has something own to add to the subject. By this I mean for example that you as yourself use something for some real purpose a or b. I think the solar power "series" has little bit what I mean. Real use case, findings, weird numbers and thoughts how it could be made better or bigger. Now "just" add some self made "snippet", extension or customization around it (to make thing again better, bigger or give more insight) and the thing becomes super interesting.

[Altair8800]

My 2 bits...

You have built up a large subscriber base of about 1 million YouTube subscribers not to mention one of the most expertise and informative EE forum boards. 

Maybe have it where you (EEVBlog channel) mainly just become the moderator/sponsor of other Electronics Engineers/Hackers/Etc.

Maybe your volunteer team (from EEVBlog forum board) will send you what they deem worthy of being shown on your EEVBlog Channel.  The team helps you (time wise) find the best of the best (concentrate on newer videos but maybe throw in a few older videos that just very good/well produce/good content and still relevant today).

You or team will contact these YouTubers if they are willing to let you repost their video on EEVBlog YT Channel.  If they say yes, bonus, if they say no, well oh well there are plenty of other fish in the sea of EE videos...  Maybe have it where you do like a 50/50 revenue split (say payable XX months after the video earned most (say 90-95%) of it's revenue).

What EEVBlog YT gets out of the deal and brings to the deal.

• EEVBlog (especially Dave) maybe spends less time creating and editing videos.
• EEVBlog gets some fresh new blood ideas into the channel.  Also maybe can post several times a week or even daily (your just reposting other people videos).
• EEVBLog is allowing some new and inspiring EE type creators possibility to increase their subscription viewership(presence) with your ~1M subscribers.
• Etc.

What smaller EE YT creators gets out of the deal and what they bring to the deal.

• It takes a long time to build up scribers.  By allowing their video to be reposted on the EEVBlog YT channel they gain EE credibility and likely a boost to their subscribers.
• There might be some EE YT types that only post randomly but they made a good video(s) but since they have extreme low viewer count at posting of their YT video the good video they did got only a very few views.  Some people would love to have their passion projects get more views.
• By having lots of EE and Hacker YT creators to choose from they will have new ideas/thoughts/projects that Dave never thought of or had time to cover himself.
• Maybe Dave built started a topic/playlist but over time never got around to completing some parts (new creators can fill in the gaps, like Components).
• Etc.

So in short, the team will be mining YT for EE/Hacker/Project video GEMs and will be aggregating and presenting them on the EEVBlog channel as the Best of the Best.  Kind of a Win-Win situation if you can pull it off. 

Note:  I also think that only Dave's EEVBlog long term high subscriber base channel with a lot of enthusiasts from the EEVblog forum board can pull of something like this..

Cheers,

[EEVblog]

• have a few more project (uCurrent, uSupply, uWatch) videos, but make them projects that average people can build using easilly obtained parts

You might be surprised to learn that practically nobody would build them.

• somehow 'moderate' your australian accent. i really don't want to offend, but to the ear of a 1st generation kiwi from a british background your voice carries a perpetual sense of urgency and enthusiasm that is exhausting after 10 minutes. all i can say is, try presenting your videos as if you are reading the marine weather forecast.

I'd rather quit. Seriously.

[EEVblog]

I think viewers are focusing on their specific field of interest. An increasing number of subscribers means that they like your content, but they'll watch mostly videos matching their interest.

Yep, that's how it works, which is why electic channels like mine and Fran Blanche's for example have a poor subscriber to view ratio. Because we don't (can't, as in literally impossible) give every subscriber what they want every time.