Happy Monday Morning!
I want to share some great news that happened over the weekend. My episode from last week with Fr. Timothy Gallagher crossed 3.7k views on YouTube!
This is by far and away my most popular episode to date. And my subscriber count jumped from 287 to 446. Which is also incredible! This weekend was another little step forward for Always Hope.
If you’ve followed my podcast for a while, you know that nothing has come easy for me on this venture. I’ve been doing the show for 7 years and launched the YouTube channel last year. The path God has put before me is one of slow growth. I didn’t become an overnight sensation or go viral with a random video, and I’m really grateful for my path. Because most of us aren’t viral hits, we're just putting one foot in front of the other, doing the little things we can control and giving the rest to God. We keep waiting for the miracle or the quick fix to solve the problem, when sometimes it’s the long journey that requires grace. I offer that this morning as an encouragement to be faithful to the small things before you. Every once in a while, we get little breaks in the clouds, jumps in the stock market, or whatever analogy you’d like to use, that remind us that God is with us and guiding us forward.
YouTube is a Game
Since my break this summer, I’ve learned that YouTube is a game. There are things that I can control and outcomes that are completely in the hands of the algo gods. From my part, I’ve been intentional in making changes to my thumbnails, captions, and show intros. One of the golden rules of YouTube is that “if they don’t click, they don’t watch,” so it seems like these tweaks are starting to pay off. I don’t want to be clickbaity, but I do want to be a better storyteller and utilize what I can to capture attention. I believe in the message of Always Hope and want to continue this path of slow growth. The goal is to get to 1,000 subscribers as soon as possible, because than I can join the YouTube Partner Program and begin generating revenue from ads.
Or maybe the lesson from this past week is that I just need to have popular figures on the show. This is odd because on the audio-only podcast side of things, having popular guests never impacted my traffic. I’ve had folks like Jason Evert, Dr. Andrew and Sarah Swafford, Fr Josh Johnson, and Sr Josephine Garrett on the show before, and none of those are even close to my most popular episodes. Maybe YouTube is different. I don’t know. But I will continue to play with it and see what works.
Let me ask you: are you interested in seeing any of those guests on YouTube? I have all those interviews in video, too. I only released the audio before. Or are there other guests or topics you'd like me to cover? Please let me know in the comments below.
Advent Virtual Retreat
Also, I wanted to share that I’m launching an Advent virtual retreat with my friend and expert on the spiritual life, Dr. Tom Neal. Let There Be Peace is a three-part series that guides you through the Christian understanding of peace, practical ways to actualize it, and how peace relates to Divine Providence. In addition to the videos, there are reflection questions and weekly live video chats with me. Join us and learn how to increase peace in your life!
In closing today, I feel encouraged that every little step of this venture teaches me something new. And I’m grateful to have you all for the ride. Have a great week.
Peace,
Mario
Responses