I've been looking over the prospect of starting a photography channel on YouTube. Of course, me being me, I always tend to over-analyze before I decide to leap with something. I've been accused of overthinking my entire life (is that bad?).
I have to admit, one of the things that I am always afraid of isn't a failure, just some underlying reason I am still exploring.
To the right, this video goes into more detail. I believe that our relationship with the self holds many different layers. I don't need recognition; I need mental stimulation.
To sum up the video, the gentleman narrating talks about failure, and why his audience stayed small for so long. He says failure is what made him fearful. Fearful of rejection, afraid of success, and also a failure from expectation. While it may seem easy to build an audience, it requires a little bit more than just key talking points.
My first attempt at creating an audience came in the form of a podcast I started back in February. I called it Ideas Are Bulletproof. I always enjoy good conversation, and creating a podcast seemed like the best remedy to keep that momentum going.
I did my research, figured out all of the requirements to make a podcast. I purchased my equipment (about $300 U.S.D.), and also started looking at software so I could record content.
Things start to get tricky. I didn't want the podcast to be me talking, because knowing myself, I always get rather bored listening to the same person over and over again. While this may appeal to some audiences, I didn't want to build my podcast foundation on this fact. I wanted my audience engaged with a conversation between two, three, or even four people.
The more conversations I partook in, the more people started reaching out to me for podcasts. I was growing a personal brand, and it felt amazing. Unfortunately, it lacked a certain quality. Expletives were thrown out left and right, a complete unprofessional tone. I had to reevaluate my objectives.
I decided to list a few things that went wrong with the podcast to learn from:
1) There was no direction or critical talking points. While this 'isn't necessarily always a bad thing, it can be somewhat inconsistent. If I want to create another podcast like this, It will be more conversation centrist than a key talking point.
2) Unprofessional tone. Entirely and utterly unprofessional in every sense of the word. I re-listen to some of the episodes and find myself rambling quite a bit. Keeping it short and sweet gives the 'listener's brain time to digest.
3) Inconsistent. I would go almost a month without posting an episode. While podcasting is part of Evergreen Content, it also needs to remain consistent so that you retain your listeners and viewership.
These were just the very few problems I encountered. So, while I do appreciate the help from all of my friends who partook in the content, it 'wasn't the direction in my 'mind's eye of where I wanted it to go. I went back to the drawing table and looked at one distinct thing that I am passionate about photography.
'I've always embraced the idea of capturing images. 'I'm a public affairs professional by trade but maintains a lot of overlapping principles that contain photojournalism. There is a delicate process that takes place within the world of photography, and it has always been a challenge trying to explain it to people.
"What, 'it's just taking pictures. What more to this is there?" 'I've heard this from family members, friends, and many other people.
"I 'don't want to spend that much money on a camera. I can use my phone." These statements invigorate something within me. Something that makes me want to respond in a way that 'isn't degrading, but educational. I have an opinion and matter that I would want to explore. There is a conversation waiting to take place!
I decided to try a YouTube photography channel. Unfortunately, there were a few challenges to overcome. Put a microphone in front of me, and I can still talk the same. It took a bit of time to get used too but eventually figured it out.
A camera, though? I feel this is going to take some time to get used too. By building an audience, I also want to foster community engagement through a comments section. If I create a key talking point, I want to be spot on in my facts. I also want to be sure that the video editing and quality are top-notch and that nothing is out of focus.
'I've started the process entirely over. I purchased an external video monitor to make sure that everything is properly in focus. I have a microphone stand that records audio from the side. I am exploring the idea of different video techniques and procedures before I dive headfirst into creating content. Unfortunately, there remains a small voice of doubt inside my head. I feel as awkward as ever when I start recording things myself — a self-acknowledged amount of uncertainty lingering in the back of my mind.
I believe that to get better at something; you keep doing it. 'It's a Stephen King approach. Summarizing his book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, the only way to get better at writing is to continue writing. If there were a secret formula for success, everyone would tap into the equation, and everything would be the same flavor.
Everything would boil down to the equilibrium, and we would all face the same mundane content over and over. There would be no life, no spark.
Michio Kaku, a theoretical physicist at New York University, once spoke about his experience walking through a park. He would look out at the pond and see equations and numbers. He deeply understood the light refracting through the water, just in equations and numbers. I became puzzled by his explanation. Instead of seeing numbers and equations, wouldn't someone want to witness the natural beauty, before the numbers? While science has its place, so does art. Art is the representation of our nature, our existence. Without it, according to science, we are all just statistics.