Does anyone here Motovlog on YouTube for a living?

[mymotorrad]

One of the larger channels I follow (and Patreon to) generally just rides his local roads, which is a 2mile radius effectively... it does get tiring looking at the same roads all the time, but he does make interesting topics, which counteracts the same locations!

I used to ride the same road to work and do videos. 21 miles each way, although I am usually done before that. It's been awhile though. I just don't dig riding in the heat anymore. Maybe it's my age, IDK. I just can't take it above 105 anymore. When I got the job I have now, I rode every day throughout one summer. That was 8 years ago. Anyway, you be you...

 

[mymotorrad]

You'd be surprised... my thought train is always getting derailed, and i have constant breaks in my speech [mostly so I can keep my cigar lit and gather my thoughts for the next sentence]. I find that running 2 cameras and cut cut cutting the footage, works. I've leaned into it. Heck, I have my "Scatterbrained" series of videos where I go through like 10 topics in 15 minutes LOL. They get decent views.

-John

It can be a challenge. I've had to start over a few times. Worse is when I nail something and the audio didn't work. I've had a couple that really saddened me. Unfortunately doing the Kerouac/Thompson stream of BS has its limits with me. It's like the funny routine where the person is pulling on a rope to save themselves and it's not attached to anything and once it goes through their hands, it's gone. It's like, that was nice. Oh well. If I wasn't riding, I'd write something out, maybe with outline, but it's hard for me to look down(my neck is fused) right in front of me when I ride.

 

[ShadowRide]

I've been putting a high level outline on a pocket sized note to help me.

 

[ShadowRide]

You'd be surprised... my thought train is always getting derailed, and i have constant breaks in my speech [mostly so I can keep my cigar lit and gather my thoughts for the next sentence]. I find that running 2 cameras and cut cut cutting the footage, works. I've leaned into it. Heck, I have my "Scatterbrained" series of videos where I go through like 10 topics in 15 minutes LOL. They get decent views.

-John

I watched quite a few of your videos and you're right, that is working for you. It's entertaining and there is good information in many of them. I just started using two cameras. First with myself in it being a few days ago and today, I've got my German Shepherd in the trailer. I'm not sure how to weave a non-speaking member of the cast into the story line. I'm thinking about the cartoon cloud pop-ups to help her out.

I've been going through other motovloggers work like a detective to see what worked, what didn't. It raises more questions than answers when you do this. For example, many get more popular after gaining a sponsor. Does the sponsor assist or are they just getting that popular at the same time the sponsor hops on board? Chicken or the egg coming first type of situation.

With your videos, I find the motovlogs very entertaining, but the how-to's get an enormous amount of views. It's certainly food for thought on what I should be trying.

Certainly an interesting concept to figure out.

 

[Drakhen99]

I watched quite a few of your videos and you're right, that is working for you. It's entertaining and there is good information in many of them. I just started using two cameras. First with myself in it being a few days ago and today, I've got my German Shepherd in the trailer. I'm not sure how to weave a non-speaking member of the cast into the story line. I'm thinking about the cartoon cloud pop-ups to help her out.

I've been going through other motovloggers work like a detective to see what worked, what didn't. It raises more questions than answers when you do this. For example, many get more popular after gaining a sponsor. Does the sponsor assist or are they just getting that popular at the same time the sponsor hops on board? Chicken or the egg coming first type of situation.

With your videos, I find the motovlogs very entertaining, but the how-to's get an enormous amount of views. It's certainly food for thought on what I should be trying.

Certainly an interesting concept to figure out.

First off - THANKS! I'm glad you're enjoying the videos! Trying to be a detective and figure out what works and what doesn't... well, in my opinion, it's a fool's errand. I talk to @Dewey316 quite frequently and we compare notes. We've found that the videos we put the most effort into, and are very proud of... do poorly. The ones I thought were "throwaway" videos, they are some of my best-performing videos. It's bonkers.

I do watch channels like Think Media and especially Channel Makers, to glean tips and tricks of things to try in the future. Whether or not I actually do those things? That's a crap shoot subject to my remembering while out on the bike... so very little, LOL.

As for sponsorships, I have no idea - I also have no sponsors, so there's that.

Regarding the entertainment vs informational videos, I have TRIED so many times to mix in some more entertaining bits to my reviews, like my Ciro Big Ass Drink Holder install/review. There's a DISTINCT drop-off right after the install and going into the review/test portion of the video. It's night and day right there.

There is a YouTuber named Jay Lippman [channel of the same name] who actually mentioned in a video last year that he saw a distinct drop-off when he cut "the fluff" - the non-informational part of a how-to video [he does Davinci Resolve and filmmaking-related videos]. He started putting those little one-liners and stuff back in, and saw viewer retention and growth go up.

To come full circle, I think for me it took about a year to become comfortable recording and talking to the camera, and another 6-8 months to realize some of what makes my viewers happy. Things like yelling at cagers on their phones, some of the interactions and unrelated nonsense that happens during my supposedly "informational" vlogs, and general silliness... that's boosted my retention to about a 45-55% AVD, from 33%. My videos are longer, but view counts are generally higher. So, analyzing my OWN stats and leaning into what works FOR ME, that's been key to making "better" videos - the quotes are because everything is subjective, and what's better for me isn't necessarily better for anyone else. For instance, early on, Dewey and I found that when he spoke, his retention went down, but when I played music, MY retention went down. Similar tracks, albeit much different scenery, but viewers responded better to one thing for me and another for him.

Hope that helps!

-John

 

[ShadowRide]

First off - THANKS! I'm glad you're enjoying the videos! Trying to be a detective and figure out what works and what doesn't... well, in my opinion, it's a fool's errand. I talk to @Dewey316 quite frequently and we compare notes. We've found that the videos we put the most effort into, and are very proud of... do poorly. The ones I thought were "throwaway" videos, they are some of my best-performing videos. It's bonkers.

I do watch channels like Think Media and especially Channel Makers, to glean tips and tricks of things to try in the future. Whether or not I actually do those things? That's a crap shoot subject to my remembering while out on the bike... so very little, LOL.

As for sponsorships, I have no idea - I also have no sponsors, so there's that.

Regarding the entertainment vs informational videos, I have TRIED so many times to mix in some more entertaining bits to my reviews, like my Ciro Big Ass Drink Holder install/review. There's a DISTINCT drop-off right after the install and going into the review/test portion of the video. It's night and day right there.

There is a YouTuber named Jay Lippman [channel of the same name] who actually mentioned in a video last year that he saw a distinct drop-off when he cut "the fluff" - the non-informational part of a how-to video [he does Davinci Resolve and filmmaking-related videos]. He started putting those little one-liners and stuff back in, and saw viewer retention and growth go up.

To come full circle, I think for me it took about a year to become comfortable recording and talking to the camera, and another 6-8 months to realize some of what makes my viewers happy. Things like yelling at cagers on their phones, some of the interactions and unrelated nonsense that happens during my supposedly "informational" vlogs, and general silliness... that's boosted my retention to about a 45-55% AVD, from 33%. My videos are longer, but view counts are generally higher. So, analyzing my OWN stats and leaning into what works FOR ME, that's been key to making "better" videos - the quotes are because everything is subjective, and what's better for me isn't necessarily better for anyone else. For instance, early on, Dewey and I found that when he spoke, his retention went down, but when I played music, MY retention went down. Similar tracks, albeit much different scenery, but viewers responded better to one thing for me and another for him.

Hope that helps!

-John

It does help. Everyone has their own personality that is going to keep attention and inform or entertain in a different way. It would follow logic that the only way most of us are going to find that is through the work of making videos and studying our own results. It makes that for a few exceptions, most of us are not going to be able to follow someone else's methods to success.

I've only had one troll comment so far, so that alone tells me I've got some serious work to do.

 

[Drakhen99]

It does help. Everyone has their own personality that is going to keep attention and inform or entertain in a different way. It would follow logic that the only way most of us are going to find that is through the work of making videos and studying our own results. It makes that for a few exceptions, most of us are not going to be able to follow someone else's methods to success.

I've only had one troll comment so far, so that alone tells me I've got some serious work to do.

Wait, you're getting troll comments? Man, I can't catch a break!

Seriously though, you got it - you get it - you'll see your success soon enough

That's why I like Channel Makers so much. Sure, he wants you to sign up for his Project 24 class, which IIRC, is a paid thing, but really, Nate is good people and wants to help others succeed on YT. Most of what he shares can be applied even to motovloggers.

-John

 

[ShadowRide]

Wait, you're getting troll comments? Man, I can't catch a break!

Seriously though, you got it - you get it - you'll see your success soon enough

That's why I like Channel Makers so much. Sure, he wants you to sign up for his Project 24 class, which IIRC, is a paid thing, but really, Nate is good people and wants to help others succeed on YT. Most of what he shares can be applied even to motovloggers.

-John

I don't know if I would classify it as a troll. I passed a semi in the video, he claimed to be a motorcycle safety guru of sorts and that my insane riding around the truck was going to get me killed. We had some back and forth on the subject. It wasn't the schoolyard bully type of trolling. He didn't mention my looks, berate my motorcycle, country of origin, claim my farkles were mounted wrong, or anything serious. I guess you have to earn quality trolling. It's not going to just fall out of the sky for you.

I've stumbled across Channel Makers before. I'll start paying more attention.

 

[Drakhen99]

I don't know if I would classify it as a troll. I passed a semi in the video, he claimed to be a motorcycle safety guru of sorts and that my insane riding around the truck was going to get me killed. We had some back and forth on the subject. It wasn't the schoolyard bully type of trolling. He didn't mention my looks, berate my motorcycle, country of origin, claim my farkles were mounted wrong, or anything serious. I guess you have to earn quality trolling. It's not going to just fall out of the sky for you.

I've stumbled across Channel Makers before. I'll start paying more attention.

Oh yeah, I've gotten similar comments, particularly after a hands-free riding section of a video - the poster said that I might be encouraging new riders to do something similar, which might get them hurt.

So, on the next video I did where I went hands-free, I put a disclaimer, and people commented on THAT! ROFL

-John

 

[ShadowRide]

Hands free is the way to go for new riders. It gets you more in tune with the balance and gyro effect of the wheels spinning at speed. Highly recommended.

This makes those running scenes on the bike even more humorous now.

 

[Drakhen99]

Hands free is the way to go for new riders. It gets you more in tune with the balance and gyro effect of the wheels spinning at speed. Highly recommended.

This makes those running scenes on the bike even more humorous now.

LOL! I do the running thing all the time - and pulling rope to go around corners, and air guitar, drums, lots of stuff I probably shouldn't do

-John

 

[ShadowRide]

My troll(that's embarrassing, I need more than one troll) said that when passing a semi, I needed to get much, much further ahead of the truck. The problem is the "debris field" when you cross lanes. That causes front tires to explode and if you're not far enough in front of the semi, it will run over you.

Now, I'm compelled to learn how to do those videos where things are exploding all over the place. Every time someone crosses a lane, Boom!

I did tell him that he should produce his own videos because if he's seeing front tires exploding all over the place like this, it would make awesome content.

 

[Drakhen99]

My troll(that's embarrassing, I need more than one troll) said that when passing a semi, I needed to get much, much further ahead of the truck. The problem is the "debris field" when you cross lanes. That causes front tires to explode and if you're not far enough in front of the semi, it will run over you.

Now, I'm compelled to learn how to do those videos where things are exploding all over the place. Every time someone crosses a lane, Boom!

I did tell him that he should produce his own videos because if he's seeing front tires exploding all over the place like this, it would make awesome content.

Let's see... in Resolve, I'd use a tracker and an animation with an alpha layer. Track something on the ground, attach animation, viola! Things exploding all over the place! Then, add sound effects to sell it [seriously, I used a screeching tire effect one time, pretending I'd locked up the brakes on my Harley, and someone heard it and commented - it was awesome].

Then, tag that user in the new video description Job done!

-John