I unlisted* all of my YouTube Shorts, which had contributed to over 500,000 views and 500subscribers to my channel.
*Unlisting is changing a video’s visibility so that it doesn’t appear in any of YouTube’s public spaces or on your channel page.
Here are the stats from 2 of my "top-performing" Shorts - unboxing videos for an
Ergonomic mouse; and
Ergonomic keyboard
"Are you nuts Daniel?" Answer: Potentially...but hear me out first.
After reading the comments section of those Shorts, and deeply questioning the outlook and future of humanity.... ...the truth hit me.
I was attracting the wrong audience from these Shorts.
My ego loved the validation.
My bank account didn’t.
To make matters worse, when I started posting long-form content earlier this year for the audience I actually wanted to (you reading this!) - it flopped.
As I've learned, algorithms work on the premise of audience matching.
Here's how it works: If you've posted 10 videos on a particular topic that have garnered lots of reach, engagement, and subscribers, then the algorithm assumes your 11th video will also be an excellent match for the audience of your first 10 videos. But if your 11th video is a complete 180-degree pivot from your previous content, it'll mix with your existing audience the same way oil and water do...
In case your science teacher never did this experiment, ChattyG has kindly brought us back to the high school lab
= NOT AT ALL 😅
So, I had a mission.
To "re-train" YouTube's algorithm on whom my channel was positioned to serve:
I unsubscribed from any channels that weren't aligned.
I unlisted all videos that weren't aligned with my target audience (long and short-form); and most importantly
I've posted 1 video per week since February for my new audience :)
I stopped chasing views ❌
I started chasing resonance ✅
Even if that meant dropping to ~1% of the volume of my weekly views.
But since I left my ego behind, real traction is happening:
A higher average view duration on my videos
A better audience match, with higher quality comments
And inbound inquiries from those interested in working with me
👉 So if you’re feeling down about only having a few hundred views on your videos, please repeat after me:
"I'm posting to build relevance, relationships & revenue...not reach"
As always, I hope these words (and the bonus affirmation) serve you today,
👱🏾♂️ Mamba
PS: In this video, I share a few personal stories of how some of my lowest-viewed videos led to professional partnerships with Flight Centre & Bellroy, as well as my +7 year relationship 💛