Midwest Gaming Classic, Six Years On YouTube Advice - Snicktendo Podcast #10

Hello and welcome to my podcast. My name is Nick and this is the unscripted podcast. The podcast where I post random ramblings and content that I just want to talk about. It's something that is ideas that bounce around in my head and I want to get it out on a weekly basis. So if you like this type of unscripted content, go ahead and like the video and subscribe if you're new. So I got a good amount of topics. Here are just a couple. Basically, I'm going to go over the game Pickups of the week, t

he latest video performance on my main channel, Super Nintendo, and what I've learned in six years on YouTube. So sit back and relax. And for the next 45 to 50 minutes, we'll kind of just chat. So game pickups of the week. So I, I try not to buy too much stuff because I've been. Been kind of like reevaluating what I'm spending stuff on and what I actually want. So I don't really buy too much. But this weekend was the Midwest Gaming Classic in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and I like Milwaukee a lot. I k

now as a Chicago person, I'm not allowed to go to like any other city except for Chicago. But Milwaukee has like it's it's got like this old charm to it that Chicago used to have. And it's it's something that I just I just enjoy going to, you know, because, like, the buildings, like the theaters are old. You know, the convention center is kind of new. But, you know, it's it's got a lot of got a lot of personality to it. So the cool thing about Milwaukee, too, is like it's only an hour away. And

so my wife and I, we we decided to go up and she she has like this podcast that she likes to listen to. It's by nor imaginary. It's, it's called Terrible. Thanks for asking. And it's kind of an interesting podcast about like dealing with like grief and loss and everything. And it's, it's, it's not like super mocha, but it's also not like, super hilarious either. But it was fun to go to a live show and, you know, see, cause it's always fun to see, you know, if you're following either, like, a You

Tuber or an Internet show or something like that, you know, it's been popular to go on tour. And so it was really fun to just like sit for like an hour and a half or so and, you know, just have like an intimate, like, little podcast experience. So that was a lot of fun. But Saturday was when I went to the Midwest Gaming Classic, and so the Midwest Gaming Classic has been around for a while and it's starting to get bigger because it is really the premiere. Game convention in the Midwest. That is

one thing that, you know, Chicago just doesn't have like a huge gaming. Presence. So, you know, Milwaukee has picked up the slack. And so it's a lot of fun to go. It's it's a smaller convention, but it's not overwhelming. And the cool thing, too, is that, you know, there are a lot of different guests that come and you can, like, go to certain panels and, you know, they've just started now, like courting YouTubers. So in the past, like they didn't really like do too much. Like you had to be like

a game industry person, not necessarily a YouTube personality, but like they started to like branch out on that regard. When I went for the first time, I went in 2019 and that was a lot of fun because. Also from YouTube, the puppet, the blue puppet was there. So I got to meet him. And one of the coolest things was the panel was with Franks of and Howard Phillips. And Howard Phillips is like this iconic Nintendo guy. If you if you are a a retro gaming person who likes Nintendo, then you should kn

ow who Howard Phillips is. And that was just it was cool because we had I got to hear him speak and I act like I was going to meet Arlo because he had like a little meet and greet thing and. Who's standing. Like, just off to the corner is Howard Phillips. And Howard Phillips is just standing there. He's just standing. I'm like, I'll just go have to talk to him. And I was like, first in line to see Arlo and then I was talking to Howard Phillips and Arlo comes in, he's like, Hey, you know, you're

in line and everything. I was like, Yeah, I'll be there. It's like, I'm talking like he didn't know who Howard Phillips was. I mean, maybe he didn't even see him because like he was his is it got like hate to spoil it for you, but Arlo is a guy who does a puppet thing, but, uh, you know, whatever . It was so fun to talk to him. So obviously 2020 comes along and it's COVID. It was canceled, which sucked. And then I went in 2021. And then I didn't go in 2022 because I was ready to go and my wife g

ot sick. And so we weren't sure if it was covered or not, like it wasn't testing for COVID or anything. But, you know, just to be on the safe side, you know, because I would hate to be like the the super spreader of, you know, thing, you know, when I could have just easily stayed home. So fine, whatever. So this year I went. I was in, I was healthy and my wife was healthy. And so we had a good time. And so this time around. I'm a you know, the last the first time I went, I maybe had, like, you k

now, 1500 subscribers. And I always make a thing. I was like, hey, I'm going to go, you know, just just to kind of just like, throw it out there, you know, just as a networking opportunity, just to see if I could, like, meet other people that I interact with online because, like, that's always the fun part to. But so this time around I got 7900 subscribers now. So I'm still not like super mega-popular, but I still put it out there because now there's like a non-zero chance that someone I think t

he first time I went, the only person who came up to me was game trade Greg. And then. Now, this time around. A handful of people came up. So like that was really cool because it's, you know, I don't really expect to get noticed or anything. You know, I'm not trying to be like Mr. Celebrity here, but, you know, it is still cool to have people who subscribe to your content and then like actually tell you like in person that they enjoy it. So that was a lot of fun. You know, a lot of people that t

hey like the comics episodes and they are. You know, just just generally just like jazz to be there in the first place, so, you know, to come across them. And so I didn't have like a meet and greet or anything. Hindsight is 2020. I probably should have like had like a specific spot or like maybe like at 12:00 or something like that. If you want to pop on by or something and have like a little meet up, you know, thing. But like I was walking around the corner so like if somebody like had the pres

ence of mind to like see me and then like actually like say hello, you know, I really appreciate it. But I did meet met Weiss this time. Cool. Cool guy. Seemed to be pretty jazz to be there. And then I met, like, he was sharing, like, a corner booth with John Hancock. So that was that was nice to see him too. And like converse with him a little bit and ran into John Riggs in passing. And then I met the guy who runs Songbird Productions. He's he's a really cool person as well. Everybody is just c

hill, you know, gaming off the grid. You know, I collab with them. So it was nice to actually, like, run into them and everything and like, you know, see people in person. There is just a couple of people that I missed. But, you know, again, like, that's kind of the thing is like I didn't really like make an effort to arrange to meet these people or anything like that. So, you know, next time I'll be a little bit more confident and try to actually like, you know, schedule some like time to meet

with people and everything just to make sure I wasn't ghosted or anything. But I did pick up some games, so I am for some goofy reason. I am looking to pick up a four Atari Lynx set. There are 71 retail games and Lynx games are not easy to find in the wild, at least like, you know, game, convention. You know, there's a lot of people will say, like, what is in the wild or anything? It's like if I find it at a retail store, that's not eBay. Like, that's the wild sorry. Like, you know, we're just w

e're at the point where you're not going like it's going to be super, incredibly rare to find. 40 year old games at a garage sale. Like, let's kind of like just call it what it is at the time now. Like, we're not we're no longer at that point. And so anything that's off eBay like that isn't an eBay. I consider in the wild, like in person is in the wild. So. Go for a complete link set. I found one store, like one shop that had a decent amount, but they all had like the ones that I had. So they ha

d four of them that I didn't have. So I picked up Chips Challenge, Electro Cop, Steel Talons and Switchblade too. They were priced pretty reasonably like they were ten or $15 apiece. And so I was just like, Hey, can you cut me a deal for all? All four and he's like, Yeah, I'll, I'll, I'll tell you for 40 bucks. Like, so $10 apiece. So fine by me, I mean, because like, how many people are actually like looking for links games to like, I mean, Songbird Productions was like the only booth with like

a whole bunch of them. So I am so on the lookout for some of the more rare ones and. It becomes a challenge because there is. A couple of games that have been reprinted in recent years. So like for example, Super Off-Road and Double Dragon have been reprinted. So those are hard to like, at least like their they differentiate themselves from the real deal. But I did get Double Dragon a long time ago, so I don't have to worry about that one. But it is a pretty tough set and I really like and that

's the thing is like I don't really want to go on eBay because what's the fun in like hunting down games if you're just like. But even eBay doesn't sell them all. Like, I have to put up alerts and everything and like, they don't come off often. And like when they do, they're expensive and they're not from the United States. I bought I forgot what game I bought. Like I think I bought Desert Strike or something like that. I, I can't remember which ones that I bought, but like it came from the Neth

erlands and it took like a month and a half to get to me. And, like, it's just, you know, I'll have to, like, bite the bullet eventually. Like on lemmings, I kind of passed on it, but it keeps coming up and it keeps going for more or more money, so. Oh, man. Like. Same thing with, like. Yeah, there's just certain games that you have to just be on the up and up for. But. That is that is one thing that I was excited to get. Like I get at least like falling skin. So I didn't already have. Then I go

t Tecmo bowl in the box, so I actually have it right here. So I know that everybody enjoys tecmo Super Bowl, but I have always had a soft spot for Tecmo Bowl. You know, it's one of those games where it just had the simple play calling and, you know, of course, like, you know, the Chicago Bears were actually good in that. So I guess, like, that's that's one of the reasons why, you know, you had Walter Payton and, you know, Bo Jackson was in that game, too. So it's like it's such a fun game. And I

was like, you know. I am trying to get like games that I. Really enjoy. Complete in the box like that's that's kind of like where my collection is is heading now I don't really want to get like a full, complete and box set, but games that I really enjoyed as a kid, I want to get complete in the box. And you know, luckily, like the games that I really, really enjoy are games that aren't as expensive. So I still think I'm looking for Super Mario Brothers, too. In the box they had like there's so

many over there, but like I didn't really want to spend 90 bucks on a beat up copy and like one guy was selling like he had like three of them and he was selling for $200 a piece. I was like, it's not I don't even think that, that it's that expensive. Like, I, I'm like, I don't know, like it was just kind of weird because it was like, you know, the prices were all over the place. And that was kind of the thing too is like it is. Prices are expensive, like if you are a game collector who's just s

tarting out. I do not envy you at all because you know. Yeah, they price starting hesitant like 95. So I don't know what that guy was smoking for. It's saying like every so often I'll see like a box and everything like that that will come up for, you know, fairly inexpensive. And like one of these days I'll actually like, I guess bite the bullet and like get a box that's not in the best condition and go from there because I don't know if I really want to spend a lot of money on that. But anyway,

I digress. I also got Tim Kitts girls autograph. And so if you don't know who he is, he is the voice of NBA Jam. Like he's the one who, you know, says like it's he's on fire and boom, chocolate and like, can't buy a bucket. Like he's, you know, he's iconic. So I, I try to like that's the other cool thing that I like about these cans is that you can run into people that you might not meet anywhere else. Like our Phillips was awesome. I did meet Daniel Pacino, who is the he's he's Johnny Cage in

Mortal Kombat one and two. And so he was signing autographs. I got him a while back and a picture. So that was cool. I got his autograph on a NBA Jam marquee. It's like a reprint of a marquee. But I mean, it is what it is. I think what I'm going to do is like above here, they make like marquee like light boxes. So I think I'm going to get one of those. And and so that way we, you know, maybe get like a Mortal Kombat two one as well. But that was really cool to me. And then also I forgot. I almos

t forgot. But I ran into Phenix resale. So if you don't know who Phenix resale is, he is a flipper. Who? He. It's kind of weird. Like, I. I don't. I don't think he is as controversial as a lot of people, uh, aim to be aimed, like, make him out to be. You know, he, he seems like a pretty cool guy and stuff in person and like, even a person who, you know, because that's the thing, too. It's like, sometimes he can run into these guys who are not on like, you know, these guys are real people and lik

e they're they're smaller creators, so they're not like, you're not running into, like, some. Uber actor or something like that where, you know, you catch them off on an off time or something like that and they're, they're like an asshole like. But he. He's he's pretty like. I mean, say what you want about flipping and everything, but that's what he does. So I ran into him and I had brought along with me some games that I wanted to sell or trade, and I was like, Oh, you know, if I run into some

links games or something like that. But the problem is, is that like. I don't like selling my stuff because it's it's kind of it's really difficult and it takes a lot of time. So I was like, you know what? If I run into somebody who says that they're going to buy games, I'll go and I'll try to sell it. And like, I only brought like four things, so I brought Metroid Prime remastered, which I had accidentally bought two of Delorean's Ash for the PlayStation two and Chibi Robbo for the Gamecube and

the Messenger for the switch. And I was like, You know what? I can let these go and whatever. So I like came up to, you know, Phenix resell and like he was like, Yeah, you know, I'm buying stuff. Like I overheard him like saying that he was going to buy stuff, you know, from people. And I was like, you know what? Like, hey, like I introduced myself and I was like, hey, like, I have these things to sell. What will you offer me? And he's like, Yeah, I'll look it up. And he, of course, he has this

, like, little phone app and everything and he he buys stuff based off of how easy it will be to flip like that. That's how he operates. If it if it has like a high cell count, that's when he will like, you know, he'll pay the most money for because it's like, you know, inventory costs money to maintain. So. I sold it for a total of. Let's see here, because he gave me the cash here and I still have it here. So I got 310 bucks for tbe Robbo and the messenger. So both of those I know what they go

for online. So before you get into the comments that I didn't sell for the the maximum amount of price, you are correct. However, I do value my time and it does take a lot of time. C Like TB promos like almost 300 bucks right now as it is. And then the messenger I think is. Have a whole separate site for their stupid magic cards. Yeah. The messenger for the Nintendo Switch is about like 178. So when you add it all together and everything like it because the messenger is actually going to be repr

inted. So like, I had to get rid of that one too quick. So all in all. The price, like if I were to sell it on eBay. So 255 plus 178 at the max thing would be $433. And then I think, like what? It's it's 15% or something like that. Maybe I, I don't know, like I don't feel too bad that I got that much for it. You know, a lot of people might want to, you know, take the time to earn back. Whatever. eBay, Max. So like you're down to 368 already and then plus you have to pay for shipping or, you know

, if the seller sells for shipping and stuff. And then you have to you also have to be beholden to the eBay return policy and. Any time that you sell something that's expensive, you run the risk to so also get like these weird returns. And I just I don't have any time to deal with it. So I do really think that I got a decent return on that because also I didn't really spend that much on I didn't really spend that much on like I bought both of them. Like I bought Jimmy Rover for like 30 bucks. An

d then I think the messenger was it wasn't that expensive. I can't remember what exactly what I bought it for, but. It. It really wasn't that expensive. But yeah, like, like I said, I mean, I'll just move on from it. But I, I don't really feel that bad of. You know, getting hosed by Phenix, where you say, oh, because I didn't I didn't really get close by. So anyway. There was nice to get some extra cash. And so now I can like go into the thing. But anyway, I spent like a lot of time on here. But

let's go into the video performance real quick. Last video, Super Nintendo was the Wii U prices. So like I've mentioned time and time again, I have been, you know, trying this strategy where I. Post the buyer's guide, and then afterwards I post a return nomics episode. And so the thing was, is that last time the we the we you buyer guy got about 2000, 2000 views, not too bad. And so I was like, you know what? That that, you know, slow and steady wins the race here. Well. I had kind of like pain

ted myself into a corner with the retro novel. So because I didn't write it until after I had finished filming the We U Guide video, which was a mistake on my part, but it wound up kind of being good in the end because basically I posted the video and. It it like I posted it like 5:00 on a monday and I was like, okay, like, let's see where it goes, you know, if it. You know, because I was expecting like, okay, like, you know, it's going to do as well as the Gamecube video. And at first it was ki

nd of like a little bit of a slow start. And it was like I think in 24 minutes or something like that, it was already at like 100 views and I was like, Oh, okay, you know, not bad, not bad. I have been burned on the one out of ten performance thing from YouTube in the past where YouTube comes out and says, Hey, your video is doing really good. And then it just like straight up just stops. It stops getting views. So I've taken the one out of ten thing. You know, I was like, you know what? Forget

it. You know, we'll see where it goes. But it kept on climbing and then like in the first like 12 hours. Yeah. And the first 3 hours as is already at 1.5 K and I was like, okay, cool. You know. Yeah. The first 40 minutes I had like 135 years and I was like, okay, all right. So now it's at 15,000. And the amount of subscribers that I got since that video was 229 subscribers. So what is cool is that. The video retro nomics started getting recommended to other people who might not know, who recomme

nd what retro mixes. Which is good for me because I post retro nomics videos and I think I've mentioned this in the past, but I hate when a video of mine that isn't a regular video pops off because everybody who subscribes and I really appreciate that they're subprime, not everybody is interested in the constant content that I have. So it is always frustrating when I post a video that gets like 100, you know, a couple thousand views. And then the next video I do is like my main content and it ju

st doesn't do well. So this one did really good. It's the first modern retro nomics video to pop off this fast. The Gamecube video from last year has 14,000 views in its lifetime. So most of my videos, they don't really they it's like a slow burn. And like what is always frustrating about the slow burn is that by the time that it gets like outside of my audience. It's out of date. So I get a lot of people who are like, This guy's full of shit. Like, he doesn't know what he's talking about. Like,

the prices are not that not where they are at. Like, they're not right at all like. So I'm really glad that it got off air. And also it has on 97% like the dislike ratio. So people actually enjoyed it. So that's that's always good when people, you know, cause like the the limited run game video got like 80,000 views. And that is not a likable video. No. Like I think it's at yeah, well, it has a 90%, but it wasn't that way. Like, it depends on like now that limited run games, this kind of like,

you know, the opinion of limited run games has changed. But anyway. I'm really happy. And so I'm going to try to get a 3DS video out and launch it by Wednesday depending on when this podcast goes live. So it may not be. It may not. It may be earlier or later on in the podcast. But I, I wasn't actually planning on doing a 3DS video because it didn't align with my current production schedule. And like, that was the thing. It's like I wanted to do like a buyer's guide, followed by a retro nomics vi

deo to get like, you know, evergreen content. And the 3DS video is like one of the most. It has so many variants and like different other things to consider that it was it was going to be a. A heavy lift video. But since everybody's like asking about 3-D gas prices. Hey, like, why not do a 3-D retro nomics video and, you know, we'll go from there. After that, though, I don't know. It really depends on the performance of the three s video. But I don't want to be doing this every week because they

are difficult to make that fast. And I really want to take my time and make sure that they're the best videos that I can make because like also like I mentioned, like last week, I'm trying to tweak register nomics and I need a little bit of time to figure out what kind of stats I want to put in that, in that background. So anyway. Really glad you're happy with the performance of that video because, you know, a lot of people, you know, like it does kind of like wear you down. Like when I mention

ed like the the burnout thing, it, you know, it stings just a little bit knowing that your content doesn't get recommended outside of your subscriber base . You know, as a new wave of things. So it's it's nice to see like 300 extra people. Well. Ah, subscribe for. The retro Nomex content. So that's 300 more people that can like return for it and be interested in it and like that. That's always been like my, my main goal is to have like an interested community of people, but I'm really happy with

it. I did not watch RG 85 video on the prices because I do not want to be influenced by, um, by what he has to say even though I did watch his one on the Gamecube. But yeah, I mean and you know, obviously like RG you know, like his video like it's pushes mine a little bit higher and stuff. So that's always good. Okay. So going to go into this final topic here and it is what I've learned in the past six years being on YouTube. So again, this advice, if you are a new person to YouTube, this is ki

nd of like advice that I've had and I really want to preface it by saying that this is for somebody who just wants to do YouTube as a hobby. And if you are a person who wants to do this business, I'm not really the right person to answer any kind of questions and everything because I've been doing this for six years and I only have 7900 subscribers. This is kind of like where I've at because like I always started it out for fun and you know, it's something that I've enjoyed doing and learning th

e process for, and I figured I'd share some little things that I've learned along the way of, like just stuff that if I knew what I was doing now and I started my channel like now with the knowledge. And so what I would do differently and one of the bigger things is, is that. Like advice that I've noticed is don't rely on other YouTubers to build your audience. So one of the things that I've noticed is that you have a lot of certain people who they come up for the YouTube and they see like the l

arger creators, and they always want to get a shout out from them. Like you see somebody with 100,000 subscribers and you're like, Oh man, like if I could just get a shout out from that guy, you know, I'd be set, like, and I would have, you know, the same type of audience and. I've gotten some shout outs before when I was first starting out, like certain like just random podcasts. I don't even know if they're around anymore, but they would give me a little shout out and you get like little uptic

k and stuff and then. I got a shout out from John Riggs a while back where he was like, you know, creators that are going to pop off in 2021, I think, and like. That's kind of the thing is like collabs fine. Like, you know, you should collab. So that way, like, people can like see for themselves like what your content is. But if you're relying on a bigger creator to just go, hey, subscribe to Super Nintendo right now, that is like the worst thing that can happen to a YouTube channel, especially

if you're not ready one, if you're not ready to pop off and too if the content doesn't interest the person going to subscribe. So I got a I think I got like 70 or so subscribers from John Riggs. And then like literally the next day, like 50 people unsubscribe like and I don't know if it was like YouTube, like purging people because like so many people subscribed right at once from that channel. Or if it was just people who subscribed and then like I posted the content and I'm like, this isn't th

e content because like that was a thing too is like you don't have any control over the elevator pitch that these creators give your channel. You know, he kind of was like, it's about like system reviews and everything. And and like I talk about retro video game prices and so. That kind of gives people the wrong impression on my channel and stuff. So, you know, while I'm appreciative that, you know, he, you know, made the the shout out or anything like that , it was it was nice. But, you know, i

f I had to do it again, like, I wish, like. He would like reach out or something like that and ask like for a little blurb about it. And that's something that, like, I would do if I was going to give a shout out. You know, I would be a little bit more in tune, make sure that that goes, because that was one thing that I like. Was looking back at, I think, in 2020 or 2021, Mr. Beast. He had like a contest or I can't remember what it was, but he selected like three or four channels at random to be

like the next big thing. And each channel got a hundred subscribers, which, you know, awesome. But every channel is dead like they were dead within a year. And like, it's like I kind of wanted to do like a video on it, you know, like just on this, on this channel and, and go for it. But like, yeah, those, that's the one thing it's like if you're content. Can't stand on its own. Then a call out from a larger YouTuber isn't really going to make make much of a difference and actually be detrimental

to your channel because, you know, like, you know. And so that's why I'm like if people organically like refer my content and stuff and like they share it with like minded people like that. That's what I like to see. You know, and that's, that's why like every time my videos, I ask people, I was like, you know, people always ask me and they're like, what can we what can I do to help the channel grow? And the best thing that she can do to help any creator is to share the videos on social media.

Like, if you like a video and you like it and you know that somebody else will like it, share the video, share the channel, you know, and you know , you can like and subscribe, but also share the content with others because, you know, if you're in a group or something or if you're on a subreddit, share that content. Because like that helps to get the word out. And then when you're sharing it and outside links like YouTube, like kind of goes, Oh hey, like people are sharing this content, we shoul

d do it. You know, you can share it on your channel to, you know, the little share button. You can create a post and say like, hey, like this is really nice video and stuff. You could do that. So that. You know, it's something that, you know, I've noticed. I'm like, cause I've always, like, said, you know, like, oh, if I could have, like, some channel, like, talk about my channel on in front of a bigger audience, you know, like what if RG 85 said on his main channel made an entire video about ab

out, you know what I do and like the retro nomics and stuff like oh man that would like get me so many subscribers but it might not, you know, like, who knows? But that that's that's one thing that, you know, a lot of smaller YouTubers like they have like zero content bill and they don't have a consistent schedule. And so you're essentially like recommending like a dead channel. And, you know, that's that's not how you want to grow your audience. Organically and that kind of same thing with the

sub four sub thing, you know, like that. That was something that I unfortunately fell into a trick where people this was like when YouTube was changing the, the monetization requirements. So originally it was kind of just like I forgot what the original requirements were, but they changed it to 10,000 views and they were like, if you get 10,000 lifetime views, then you'll get into the the partner program. And then then they changed it again. They're like, and now that's what it is today. It's a

thousand subscribers and 4000 hours of watch time, and so many people got caught up in that sub count and they were like, Let's do sub for sub views, sub for me also to you. And then we'll grow together and stuff. And that is it's against the terms of service number one, but also like it's the worst way to grow your channel. Like, if all you care about is a sub number and nothing else, then you just minors will buy subs. You know, don't do that either. That's also against the thing. But like it'

s the same premise, like it's the same you're you're buying a number and you're not having actual real people watch your content. It's it's one of the reasons why I mean, I like watching YouTube videos and everything, but. I would not expect somebody that I am sub two to sub back to me if they don't subscribe. That's okay. You know, like I want people who are subscribing to my content to subscribe because they actually want to watch the content. Not because they feel obligated to give me a littl

e tick, you know, because, like, that's the same thing too. It's like I, I only sub to people that I watch my content and stuff. And that's another thing too. It's like if you have a, an inflated sub number and nobody's actually watching your content, like that's, that's really bad. Like, that's why I keep, you know, talking about at least 10% of your sub base should be watching your content. And if you're a channel that can kind of see some of them, they have like, like a, a large subscriber nu

mber and then they put out a video and it's like only 300 views or something. It's always weird, but, you know, maybe they had like them from a while back or whatever. But it's not that they bought the subs, but like certain older channels that have been around forever, like that audience eventually like ages out of your content, they don't want to watch it anymore or they shift to somebody else. And so then you have like 15,000 subscribers, but only like 300 views or something like that. So. Th

at is what you want to make sure that you're doing. And it is. You know, like, yeah, if you if you got like 15,000 subs and like you're barely scraping by like you should if you have 15,000 subs should have about like 1500 views per video. That's what you should be shooting for. And that is one of the things too. It's like, you know, I've noticed too is like you have you also have to like be. Able to admit that maybe what you're doing isn't working and it's not necessarily the content itself tha

t you have to change , but it's how that you deliver the content. You know, like maybe you change up how. How you present or like you change up your descriptions, you change up your thumbnails, you change up your your setup. Because that's one thing that I've noticed is that like if you refuse to grow and you can tell yourself whatever you want , you can tell yourself that you don't really care about the views. You can say that you're just doing this to have fun. But any time that I hear people

say that, like, I know that you're just trying to tell yourself that as an excuse for not growing, you know, like obviously, you know, the people who do have fun. Like, I've never I've never seen them complain. Like, you know, some channels that I'm subscribed to, they get like a couple hundred views of video and they're content with it. You know, they have. You know, a couple thousand subscribers and they, um, you know, they, they like to stream or do whatever and they just like to have fun, yo

u know, like, and that's, that's them. And like, I never hear them complain, like, and, you know, those are the ones who are really happy, but the people who are like they're constantly just like being negative and everything. And that's kind of the other thing too is like when you're looking at a community as a whole, like sometimes you run into you just subscriber these creators and they're part of like a little shtick. And some of them they're there to have, you know, they're there to collab

off of and everything, you know, they have I've talked to a lot of different smaller creators who have like the same kind of subscriber base as I do. And we kind of bounce ideas off of each other. And, you know, some person will be like, oh, you know, I can't figure out like exactly how to grow. And it's like, hey, like, have you tried this or something? And they're like, hey, you know, like, that'd probably be a good idea. And they would try it and, you know, maybe it works, maybe it doesn't, b

ut they're open to trying new things, and that's what I'm getting at. But, you know, they're just some other creators who just, like, refused to grow and then they become very bitter about it. And it's like, why are you even creating the content if you're not having fun? And that's, you know, that's another thing is like, if this isn't fun for you and you're just doing it as a hobby , then why are you even doing it? Like, I, I don't I don't get, like, I don't get that, like, mantra that people,

they, they look like they're going through the motions and stuff and then they constantly, you know, say, like, oh, you know, like they see some other, like, YouTuber, like, who's been around for like maybe a couple of months, like just go shoot up through the mirror and everything. And, you know, I've been there myself, you know, like I see certain other YouTubers and stuff who just managed to get like thousands of views per video. And I was just like, what the flip, you know, like how where do

these views come from? Like, you know, they you look at their videos and they're not like they don't have the SEO that you thought that you did. Like they don't have like the thumbnails like you try to do like all the YouTube guru shit and like they're just like cranking out, they just like post out of video every week and they get 15,000 views like, like that. And you're just like, what in your it doesn't even seem like they're talking about anything, you know? But like I said, it's important

to like, you know, keep your you're competing with yourself for the most part, you know, and that's that's like another thing to get. Out of it when you're creating the YouTube thing is that, you know, I don't own the idea of following price trends. And so I don't really necessarily get upset when other people talk about prices because, you know, that's part of the collecting scene. Like, you know, that's part of the conversation. And that's why I try to create retro nomics in a way where. Where

? Like I can I can add something meaningful to the conversation that isn't easy to replicate. So, you know, and that's why I like, you know, I welcome when a video pops off but. The other kind of things are something that I learned a long time ago was don't buy things for your channel unless you want to play them. This is like a mistake that I fell into in 2018 where I just, like, was essentially just borrowing against the channel and. That does not work just for I like, you know, I try when I'm

buying stuff. For. I don't buy stuff for the channel anymore. I don't I don't buy like Metroid Prime remastered I bought because I wanted it. I didn't buy it to do a review on the channel. Same thing with a playdate. I didn't buy it to just do a review on the channel. I bought it for that because I thought it was really fun and I thought it was fun enough where I would make a content video. I bought the Atari VCs specifically because I wanted to do a review on it, and luckily that paid off beca

use like the video did really well. I made like 600 bucks, so it paid for the system. The system was already paid for. I bought the Amico. They may go. Hasn't come in yet, so I'm out 100 bucks. Right. So and like, there's other things that I bought, like controllers just random, like quirky stuff that I wanted to do videos on that I never did and like stuff that I do videos on, like with that stuff doesn't have the potential to like unless you have like a bigger audience, you know? And that's ki

nd of the other thing too is like if you're a small creator and you're going to grow like you got to. You kind of have to play that game with the algorithm. You've got to talk about what other people are talking about. Like the reason why that we use video went off was not necessarily because I've been doing retro nomics forever and YouTube decided to throw me a bone. It's because the Wii U eshop was shutting down that day and it just happened to be a video that was unique enough where it stood

out. So just putting it out there, here, it's like if you talk about niche stuff, you're going to attract a niche audience. So if you're if you're only talking about, you know, PlayStation controller variants, you're only going to get like, you know, a handful of people who are actually interested in that stuff . But if you're a larger channel, like if I ever got like two, 100,000 subscribers or your larger, I would probably do like random stupid videos like that and just go from there. But that

's the also thing too. It's like you shouldn't be afraid as a new channel to try new things. You know, there's a lot of people who are afraid of this algorithm, and the algorithm is this this boogeyman that you can like blame stuff on for. You know, not. Not giving you the thing, but like it is one of those things where it's like if you have a video that bombs like it's not going to kill your entire channel. Like, I don't like when people like mention that because really what it does is like, it

really like puts people into a rut and, and then a channel doesn't become fun anymore. And like, that's the thing. So I guess the other thing too is that you need to grow your own community of audience. So when you're cultivating a YouTube audience, you also have to kind of like, keep in mind that. People. Are coming to see your video. So if people subscribe for my restaurant comics videos, the next Russian comics video that I make, there's a good chance that those people are going to watch the

video again. They're going to watch another retro nomics video. Some people might only be interested in we you write your comics and they might skip the three D S1 or they're not interested in anything but Nintendo. So but the thing is, though, is like I've seen a handful of creators like the they chased the sub count and so like they changed their content around to fit what's popular in the algorithm. So it's like. If you're talking about if I was talking about retro nomics and then like the n

ext week, it was, I don't know, like a PlayStation VR or something like that, like and I change my entire channel. I'd be like, okay, I'm going to go hard on PlayStation VR content for the next. You know, a month or so, three months, and then it starts to fizzle out. And then I drop that and I go to somewhere else. Like, you have to kind of understand that your sub base isn't necessarily interested in you specific. They're interested in a specific topic of video. There's only a handful of people

who can, like, actually, like, make their personality the thing that people come back for. And that is kind of rare, especially in the in the retro YouTube or space, you know, maybe like travel blogs and like all these other things, you know, might be, you know, personality wise a little bit better. But like, as far as, like I've been concerned with the gaming. Like YouTube specifically only will recommend. Content like content. Two people who, you know, think that's why a lot of YouTube gurus

recommend that, like once a video pops off that you should like go into that specific content. But I mean, it has like short term growth and everything with that. And that's, that's like the other thing too, it's like I would recommend definitely not doing a YouTube guru or anybody who offers you to do your like to give you advice for money. Is probably not doesn't have your. Your best interests in mind, because I'll tell you a little story. So. Speaking of John Riggs. John Riggs. He popped up t

his thing. He was like he was recommending this YouTube class, and he was like, he's like, hey, like this YouTube class worked for me, and he he got 100,000 subscribers and he's like, This works for me , and if you guys want to. You know, this guy, he he has some stuff that's going to open up. And you should, you know, you should check it out. So I was like, okay, you know, if John Riggs if it works, John Riggs, I'll I'll give it a shot. So this guy, like they they did a video call with me and t

his one guy and he's like, hey, like, you know, here's the program that we do. You know, it's like one of these, like, you know, it's a guru, you know, like it's it's like going to a a Tony Robbins is a Tony Robbins. I don't remember. Yeah. Like a motivational speaker kind of guy. Like where he comes up and you. You buy tickets to his. His his little talk and everything. You buy his book and everything. And he's like the key to success on YouTube, you know? And so the guy who did it, he was like

, very low energy kind of guy. And he's like looking over my channel. And this is like after my Atari VCs video, it popped off. So it had, like, you know, 100,000 views. And the guy was like, he's like, yeah. So here's, here's the thing is, it costs $5,000 for the class. And I was like, okay, what is entailed with the $5,000 that I'll I'll be getting? He's like, Well, uh, you know, Joe or whoever the, the guy's name is, he does a, a webinar. Um. You know, with it's an intimate class and stuff an

d it's like, okay, so I don't get like any one on one with them. And it's like, no, do I get one on one with anybody? No, it's just like a webinar. It's like, you know, it last very long and it was like, okay, and it's $5,000. And he's like, Yeah. And I'm like, Well, is there any guarantee that, like, my channel will grow? No. So I'm paying $5,000 as a as a person with at the time I had, I think 2500 subs or something at the time and . There's no guarantee. And also. Like the the advice. Like, e

ven the guy couldn't really, like, really pitch it to me. And I was like, well, I'm definitely not interested, but thanks for any like, anyway. But like, it's like I could just kind of alluded to thing these guys it's very broad advice and nine times out of ten the only time where your channel will actually like take off because like every so often this guy like posts like, oh, look at my class like and it's, it's always like the, the name of the channels blurred out the content, all this other

stuff. It's like. I don't I, I don't even know if the screenshot is real, but it's like, oh, this person like made $140,000 this this month in YouTube revenue. Don't you wish that was you or something? You know, like, it's it's a it's a scam. Like I, I don't really like to malign other people on here. Like, I like to give valid criticism. But this, this class was like, it reeked of bullshit. And, like, the reason why I know that is because I have been involved in a, an MLM before it was called p

rimary pickup and it was the same bullshit. Like, you too can make a ton of money just by doing this small things and stuff. And it's, it's a lot, it's a lot of reliance on you specifically. So I have no doubt that some of those channels really do exist. And like John Rakes, he swears by it, but as a small channel. You're not going to get that five grand. Back immediately. Hey. You are not like you like. Trust me. Like I like. Unless you have, like, just money. Just burning, like, $5,000 will bu

y you. It'll buy a new camera, it'll buy you lights, it'll buy you a, you know, a new computer or something like that. Like, invest in yourself. Don't. Don't pay these gurus, like. Just go. There was. I forget what the guy's name is. His. His name is Roberto Blake. That's who you should follow. This guy, he knows almost everything and he gives it away for free. And if he his advice doesn't get you to where it's going, then you should be you should really be introspective on, you know, make sure

that you're doing it right. Because unless some person is promising you like, you know, you know, return on your investment and can guarantee you growth for that amount of money. Like, like I would pay, like if Roberto Blake was giving a seminar where it was like one on one, you know, like where he came in to my channel and said, Hey, man, like, I looked at your channel like, here's what I do. And, like, he would actually do it for me to. You know, then maybe it would be worth it. But even then,

$5,000 is not it's not cheap like so. Just keep that in mind. Like, just don't don't go for people like that, you know, just. Just follow Roberto Blake and you go there, but. That's pretty much all that I have for now. Does this podcast run a little bit longer than what I was expecting? But it was something that I really wanted to talk about. And if you have any advice, feel free to leave it down in the comments below. But that's going to do it for this episode of the unscripted podcast. Again,

thanks so much for listening and watching and subscribe. If you are new and you can follow me on Twitter or Instagram at to know. So thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time.