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Yes, it has come to this.
People have already brought up how much my website costs to host. $4500 is what Godaddy chargers for a dedicated server for one year. We need our own server because of the traffic this site gets, but I’ll agree that the site is still slow, especially on mobile.
As for bringing back repair videos, I’ve been doing that since the beginning of the year with at least one ‘repair’ video a month. It’s done nothing to help the views. Partly because YouTube is not notifying my subscribers, and partly because all people expect at this point is Fairmont videos which they may not be interested in.
Lastly, if you think I’ll be be going back to repair videos after the #FairmontProject is finished, think again. I still have at least a years worth of Fairmont videos before the series concludes. If I can’t bring the views up by then, I really won’t be able to continue the channel as I have in the past and will likely move onto something else.
- Replies
It’s a shame brother.
I hope things get on the right track again. You already passed for so much and it wouldn’t be fair to you to start over.
I’m a subscriber from almost the beginning and watched you grow with your hard work. The quality of the videos are top notch currently and the “crew” that films them know exactly what they are doing.
The only thing I can say is stay strong. YT i a pain but with more repair videos maybe you will be able to get your views back.Thank you for everything brother!
Regards from Lisbon, Portugal (yup, straight across the pond 🙂 )
Eric whatever you decide you should know that many people are grateful to you for your help and inspiration. A lot of people got back on the road when times were tight because of your help. Your story – from the dealership to success on your own – was and continues to be inspiring for many.
I wonder if you might be able to re-package the Fermont project videos once you are done shooting them into a series on automotive systems in depth? Is it crazy to think you might be able to sell these as an educational package, like the Vmanuals but with an emphasis on education and training in fundamental automotive concepts and systems?
[quote=”daneli” post=186716]I wonder if you might be able to re-package the Fermont project videos once you are done shooting them into a series on automotive systems in depth? Is it crazy to think you might be able to sell these as an educational package, like the Vmanuals but with an emphasis on education and training in fundamental automotive concepts and systems?[/quote]
Good one!
Hey Eric, I love your videos, production quality, everything. You make great content, and I’d be more than willing to pay for it. If you wanted to, a Patreon would be a good way to raise funds. I owe quite a lot to you, and I’d like to help.
Part of the problem is that YouTube doesn’t care about production quality anymore, but quantity. Take a look at The Smoking Tire; the videos there are now mostly GoPro-shot, but he cranks out 3+ “One Take” videos per week every week, each as cheap as can be. He maintains credibility by keeping himself honest, and he picks up little sponsors every so often (watch brands and the like, which fits his demographic). You could do that with Venom Steel gloves, for example, or Garage Boss oil drain pans. I know each of them have been advertising on The Smoking Tire’s podcast.
Motor Trend went behind a paywall. As for your videos, I would hate to see that happen; so much of the info is so useful for people like me. I would be happy to pay, but people who search YouTube for “how to replace a coolant temperature sensor” wouldn’t be able to find them as easily.
Doing a “one take”-style video might help to bring in more revenue on YouTube. Like “Why I love my Snap-On Ratchet”, or “My favorite coolant hose pliers”, or “Simple Tricks for protecting your hands in the shop”. Stuff like that. Even if they’re not comprehensive like your current videos and the production quality might be lower, they will help keep the money flowing.
If you packaged up the Fairmont videos for Vimeo and sold it as a (very long) movie, I’d chuck $15 bucks in, at least, just to have a copy of the content in a watchable/downloadable/streamable format, while supporting the creator. I would love to buy ETCG merchandise, too, and many other automotive YouTubers (like TheSmokingTire, Thatdudeinblue, etc) seem to like “Teespring.com” and “motoloot.com” for merch. It wouldn’t hurt to reach out to those companies. I’d love to hang an ETCG1 keytag from my rearview mirror, or attach a sticker to my rear quarter window.
As far as the website goes, you may want to look into a simpler solution. This website is very nice, but it sounds like it is a big hassle and expense. Have you looked into something like Squarespace.com with your developer? There is still a full featured development platform for it, but it is WAY less expensive, and you can sell digital or physical items, too. They have amazing customer support (I’ve built a simple website on the platform), and they have hosting backed by Amazon, so it never goes down, and will be very, very fast.
And for the forum, one of my other favorite channels (on the other end of the automotive spectrum) is Obsessed Garage, and a lot of the discussion from that channel takes place in a “private” Facebook group (administrators/moderators add new users) that basically functions as a forum for the channel.
Thanks for being open and honest with us.
It was great meeting you at the Road to Sema event last fall; I was the 20 year old trailing you around the LA canyons in the black BMW. I hope this helps out a little.
Man, this is hard to watch. I don’t even know what to say. Here’s my take, buddy: the Fairmont videos should stop temporarily. Bring back repair videos, FiF, etc. I know that’s not easy to do as it takes time to even stop one thing, film another, and then edit it and put it up to YouTube. Stuff like the Chevy Truck are what’s going to get views because there are a million of them out there. Sure, other Chevy Truck videos are out there but nobody is as thorough as you, Eric.
You have a way with words and tools that very few people have in such beautiful combination. Finish the Fairmont and shoot videos on it. They will come out in time. What I would do is finish it, film the conclusion (drag strip, burnouts, etc.), and then make a series of 1 to 2 hour videos chronicling the path that got you there. You built this car and as detailed as you are, of course there is going to be a mountain of footage — that’s just the way it is.
You know so much more than me about being a YouTuber and these are just my suggestions which may not work in practice or make sense for your channel from where you are sitting. You know how much I love and respect you as a friend, and regardless of what happens in the future, I look forward to sitting down with you and having a drink again. It’s always worth the trip.
Much love, Eric
— NickSorry to here of the downturn but complete understand. Married with kids myself, family and providing has to come first and it has to come in a way you can provide without spending every last minute away from them. As others above, I appreciate you work. I admit, I like a variety but still watch all the videos. I agree your video quality is far above most. I cannot watch a video the screen is dancing around making me sea sick and I was in the Navy.
One thing I have heard other “youtubers” mention is now there is a bell beside the subscribe button that people have to click to be notified. I haven’t tried it myself. I just check back because. I only watch about 5 of you one time a week. Another thing I noticed and wanted to offer support before to you was, I notice with your industry, more and more of you guys have to put up and apologize for trash in comments. I guess that is price for dealing with public. Especially ones that only have to type and not show there true face with there opinion. Anyways enough about all of that.
Appreciate your work. What ever comes, wish you and your family the best.
James.
First, thank you all for your suggestions and support. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.
I’m sure you’re aware that since I posted this video yesterday I’ve been inundated with suggestions about the direction I should take. That’s the main reason I’m doing a ‘general’ response here.
Bottom line is this, there is no doubt that the ETCG channel and website are overdue for a change. I feel the content has always been solid and the production value has always been on point with the equipment and resources I had. But it seems times, and YouTube have changed, and to be honest, I expected it to happen one day.
Therefore I plan to make some changes to a few things in the ETCG universe.
The #FairmontProject. I love this project, but I get to see it as it happens. I think part of the issue with the views lately is that many people are sick of seeing this project, and I get it. It’s not for everyone, but I love it. I love working on this car, I love the customization and fabrication side of it, and I love the engineering challenges it brings. To me, it’s far more engaging than just doing repairs. Sure I get satisfaction, finding and solving a mechanical problem, but it’s not the same as discovering how to make something work that was never intended to work. For me the Fairmont is the embodiment of a dream I’ve had for more than 25 years and I intend to see it through. In fact, I’ve been on an all out push to finish the car since the beginning of the year. I’ve made a lot of progress, but I still have a ways to go before the car is up and running. I suspect 2 more months at least.
The videos I’m shooting these days on the #FairmontProject are different. For starters I’ve shot several videos without a cameraman. As some of you are aware Cameraman Brian’s mom passed away a couple of months ago, and he’s been busy with other projects. Additionally, the drop in YouTube income has made using a cameraman sometimes too expensive, so it’s worked out in a weird way. To be honest I’ve enjoyed returning to the ‘old’ way of shooting ETCG videos. I’ve shot several of them this way and I intend to edit them differently. I’m hoping to make more ‘summary’ type videos of the project over highly detailed videos. This should quicken the pace of the project videos and get them out of the cue sooner.
Many have suggested starting a new channel for the #FairmontProject and that’s a good suggestion, but it still doesn’t solve the problem of time. As it is now it takes a great deal of time to produce a Fairmont video. Sometimes a week or more to produce just one video. If I had to do that, and operate my ETCG channel with repair videos, ETCG1 videos, and Premium Member videos, it just wouldn’t be possible. There simply isn’t enough time in a day to get all that work done. I’m also not interested in starting another channel that I need to grow and maintain. In short, another channel simply isn’t on the table as a solution.
I have shot a few ‘repair’ type videos that I plan to mix in as I have since the beginning of 2017. I’m hoping these will appease those that came to my channel for repair videos. I’m hoping this approach is a nice compromise that will satisfy everyone for now.
Once the #FairmontProject is complete, I plan to finish out the videos and then decided what to do next. Much of that will depend on the views I’m able to get between now and then. I feel I have a lot of options and I’ve learned a lot from how the #FairmontProject has effected the views on my channel. Any project videos that I do after that series concludes will be different. That’s about all I can say for now.
In addition to making a newer style of video, I have other thoughts on how to move forward with the ETCG brand. Namely, this website.
EricTheCarGuy.com was always meant to be a place where people could come to get help with their automotive issues. The original idea was the have the advertisers pay for it all, making it completely free to those that needed the help.
The website has also become a place for my Premium Members which I’m very grateful for. They are my strongest supporters and have helped this site pay it’s bills for years. Thank you for that.
That said, I’m also thinking of making big changes to EricTheCarGuy.com. The first change is this forum. Originally I was very active on the forum helping people with their automotive issues. Over time this became more and more difficult as I became more popular. There was a lot more work to do, a lot more editing, and I had less and less time to spend here. A couple of years ago, I stopped answering questions on the forum altogether. It just became too much.
The time I used to spend on the forum is now spent in the comments to my videos. During the time I was participating on the forum, I stopped doing that and it hurt my channels. Once I started commenting to my videos again, the channels started to grow. It became a one or the other proposition and I chose commenting to my videos.
All of this has lead to a lot of typing which to be honest, is effecting my health. I now have tennis elbow pretty bad and if I type for too long, it hurts quite a bit. Especially if I don’t wear my splint.
It’s for those reasons I’m considering shutting down this forum. I feel terrible that I’ve advertised this forum as a place to get help with automotive issues, and I haven’t participated in it for years now, at least answering automotive questions. Many of you have taken up the cause and have done a great job in my absence and I appreciate that very much, but I’m sure you’re aware that many of the people coming here to get questions answered are looking for me to answer them. If I’m not around to do that, I feel I’m doing them a disservice, something akin to false advertising. Therefore I feel it would be best to close it down and remove it from the site. I’ll still keep the FAQ section and redevelop the ‘codes’ page to make it more usable. Basically, I’d like to turn the website into a much simpler form and trim things down a LOT. This will decrease my demands for a dedicated server and hopefully bring down my monthly cost. I’m also hoping it will make the site run better, especially on mobile. I’ve never been happy with the performance of the site on mobile and I’d like that to change.
Ever since adblockers came along, the site has been operating at a loss. This seems like the most logical approach to dealing with that problem. If I can bring the monthly cost of the site down, it would help my bottom line considerably. The forum takes up a huge amount of space as you can imagine.
I’ll still keep Premium Memberships, but the ‘legacy’ pricing will be going away in the next year. Meaning that those paying the cheap amounts for their memberships will need to sign up at the new rates when they renew. I know I may loose some members by doing this, but there are some that are still paying the original pricing and with the hosting I use now, that is also operating at a loss.
I know that’s a lot, but I’ve been working on sorting these things out for some time. In short, I’m burning it all down so I can start over. What will come from the ashes will be a leaner, meaner ETCG, that I hope my viewers, new and old, will appreciate.
Thanks again for all your support over the years. I say it often and I mean it, I appreciate each and every one of you. Without you, ETCG would not exist and I would not have the greatest job ever. I hope I’m able to stick around and do it for a few more years.
ETCG
P.S. I plan on making a thread discussing my plans for the website, likely in the ‘Forum News’ thread. If you have any comments on that, I would ask that you post them to that thread instead of here. Let’s keep this one about the future of ETCG as a whole.
Thanks again
[quote=”EricTheCarGuy” post=186755]
Ever since adblockers came along, the site has been operating at a loss. This seems like the most logical approach to dealing with that problem. If I can bring the monthly cost of the site down, it would help my bottom line considerably. The forum takes up a huge amount of space as you can imagine.
[/quote]
I’m not sure if this would help, but could you put a popup if people are running ad blockers to consider whitelisting the site? I have this site whitelisted and the ads are not obtrusive at all (unlike other sites that are throwing pop-ups at you every 10 seconds or so).
I will be sad to see the forum go. I’ve learned a lot from it and hopefully I have helped some others out. It is a great community. I do understand if you shut it down, you need to be profitable as a business and these are the decisions that need to be made (and they are never easy).
My plea to everyone else is if you have learned something from this site or received help, please whitelist in your ad blocker.
In my opinion, the #FairmontProject is what is making the views on youtube less and less, if you look back on your old videos or even videos like swapping out the TL engine in a part 4 series, you have a lot of views on those, realize that there’s only a minority of fans of the #FairmontProject. I know as you stated that this is very important for you and you have learned a lot and waited for almost 25yrs to do a project like this , I can understand and will support you either way since personally I have learned a lot from you over the years and saved tons of $$$$ in not going to get raped by the dealer or independent mechanics and you also made me realize the whole “car scene” specially Honda/Acura as this is the main reason I stumbled upon your videos years ago, you specialize in Honda/Acura cars. I just bought your Timing Belt VManual on the J series, as I have 3 Acura’s that need the 105k service soon. It also sounds like your passion is doing this #fairmontproject and you might be getting tired or bored in doing the repair videos. My suggestion is to back to basics and go back to what made ETCG what it is today, you always say 8-9yrs ago when you started you never imagine what it will become today, I say go back to what made you successful and the formula you used back then and tweak it a little bit with a twist since you have all the equipment in your shop.
One way to also help your bottom line is repair cars again and charge people for the repairs while also doing videos on the how to.. There’s tons of Acura Honda Toyota cars out there these days that people want to DIY. If you check the automotive forums, you will see that there’s a demand still of DIY stuff and I think you have the best equipment and lighting to make videos and you also have the Cameraman’s eye since your first passion in video production.
The FairmontProject has set you back big time and I think bottom line this is a major cause of the decline in your views, I will be honest, I am a premium member but I don’t watch all the Farimont videos, I just watch it sometimes for entertainment but you have to know theres a lot of videos out there on youtube now that are also very entertaining, I search youtube first if I need something done for a DIY , some sort of a walkthrough for me as to do the repair efficiently specially if I am doing a DIY I have not done before. I am willing to bet that if your Project was the Integra that you have in your lineup of cars, you will at least triple your views and more.. If you look at car sales data, Honda Toyota is still the top sellers specially the civics and accord, camry’s out there or the newer generation Nissan Altima. Acura TL’s, MDX is also one of the many DIY’s out there that will interest people. For example, I need to change the clutch on my tl-s and is having a hard time looking for an independent that I can trust to do the job in my area, dealer wants $1,200 excluding parts.
You are perfect for youtube to be honest, you have the best lighting and camera angles and is very articulate in front of the camera, whatever you venture and changes you make in the future, I wish you the best and will continue to support your Brand. We can all see how hard you work for your Brand to grow to what it is today. Lastly, once you finish the fairmont project, you will have an awesome car and a show worthy car. I am also interested to see what changes you will decide to do for your brand and sometimes change is good and we need adversity to help us in the direction we need to go. Good Luck Eric!
[quote=”EricTheCarGuy” post=186755]First, thank you all for your suggestions and support. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.
I’m sure you’re aware that since I posted this video yesterday I’ve been inundated with suggestions about the direction I should take. That’s the main reason I’m doing a ‘general’ response here.
Bottom line is this, there is no doubt that the ETCG channel and website are overdue for a change. I feel the content has always been solid and the production value has always been on point with the equipment and resources I had. But it seems times, and YouTube have changed, and to be honest, I expected it to happen one day.
Therefore I plan to make some changes to a few things in the ETCG universe.
The #FairmontProject. I love this project, but I get to see it as it happens. I think part of the issue with the views lately is that many people are sick of seeing this project, and I get it. It’s not for everyone, but I love it. I love working on this car, I love the customization and fabrication side of it, and I love the engineering challenges it brings. To me, it’s far more engaging than just doing repairs. Sure I get satisfaction, finding and solving a mechanical problem, but it’s not the same as discovering how to make something work that was never intended to work. For me the Fairmont is the embodiment of a dream I’ve had for more than 25 years and I intend to see it through. In fact, I’ve been on an all out push to finish the car since the beginning of the year. I’ve made a lot of progress, but I still have a ways to go before the car is up and running. I suspect 2 more months at least.
The videos I’m shooting these days on the #FairmontProject are different. For starters I’ve shot several videos without a cameraman. As some of you are aware Cameraman Brian’s mom passed away a couple of months ago, and he’s been busy with other projects. Additionally, the drop in YouTube income has made using a cameraman sometimes too expensive, so it’s worked out in a weird way. To be honest I’ve enjoyed returning to the ‘old’ way of shooting ETCG videos. I’ve shot several of them this way and I intend to edit them differently. I’m hoping to make more ‘summary’ type videos of the project over highly detailed videos. This should quicken the pace of the project videos and get them out of the cue sooner.
Many have suggested starting a new channel for the #FairmontProject and that’s a good suggestion, but it still doesn’t solve the problem of time. As it is now it takes a great deal of time to produce a Fairmont video. Sometimes a week or more to produce just one video. If I had to do that, and operate my ETCG channel with repair videos, ETCG1 videos, and Premium Member videos, it just wouldn’t be possible. There simply isn’t enough time in a day to get all that work done. I’m also not interested in starting another channel that I need to grow and maintain. In short, another channel simply isn’t on the table as a solution.
I have shot a few ‘repair’ type videos that I plan to mix in as I have since the beginning of 2017. I’m hoping these will appease those that came to my channel for repair videos. I’m hoping this approach is a nice compromise that will satisfy everyone for now.
Once the #FairmontProject is complete, I plan to finish out the videos and then decided what to do next. Much of that will depend on the views I’m able to get between now and then. I feel I have a lot of options and I’ve learned a lot from how the #FairmontProject has effected the views on my channel. Any project videos that I do after that series concludes will be different. That’s about all I can say for now.
In addition to making a newer style of video, I have other thoughts on how to move forward with the ETCG brand. Namely, this website.
EricTheCarGuy.com was always meant to be a place where people could come to get help with their automotive issues. The original idea was the have the advertisers pay for it all, making it completely free to those that needed the help.
The website has also become a place for my Premium Members which I’m very grateful for. They are my strongest supporters and have helped this site pay it’s bills for years. Thank you for that.
That said, I’m also thinking of making big changes to EricTheCarGuy.com. The first change is this forum. Originally I was very active on the forum helping people with their automotive issues. Over time this became more and more difficult as I became more popular. There was a lot more work to do, a lot more editing, and I had less and less time to spend here. A couple of years ago, I stopped answering questions on the forum altogether. It just became too much.
The time I used to spend on the forum is now spent in the comments to my videos. During the time I was participating on the forum, I stopped doing that and it hurt my channels. Once I started commenting to my videos again, the channels started to grow. It became a one or the other proposition and I chose commenting to my videos.
All of this has lead to a lot of typing which to be honest, is effecting my health. I now have tennis elbow pretty bad and if I type for too long, it hurts quite a bit. Especially if I don’t wear my splint.
It’s for those reasons I’m considering shutting down this forum. I feel terrible that I’ve advertised this forum as a place to get help with automotive issues, and I haven’t participated in it for years now, at least answering automotive questions. Many of you have taken up the cause and have done a great job in my absence and I appreciate that very much, but I’m sure you’re aware that many of the people coming here to get questions answered are looking for me to answer them. If I’m not around to do that, I feel I’m doing them a disservice, something akin to false advertising. Therefore I feel it would be best to close it down and remove it from the site. I’ll still keep the FAQ section and redevelop the ‘codes’ page to make it more usable. Basically, I’d like to turn the website into a much simpler form and trim things down a LOT. This will decrease my demands for a dedicated server and hopefully bring down my monthly cost. I’m also hoping it will make the site run better, especially on mobile. I’ve never been happy with the performance of the site on mobile and I’d like that to change.
Ever since adblockers came along, the site has been operating at a loss. This seems like the most logical approach to dealing with that problem. If I can bring the monthly cost of the site down, it would help my bottom line considerably. The forum takes up a huge amount of space as you can imagine.
I’ll still keep Premium Memberships, but the ‘legacy’ pricing will be going away in the next year. Meaning that those paying the cheap amounts for their memberships will need to sign up at the new rates when they renew. I know I may loose some members by doing this, but there are some that are still paying the original pricing and with the hosting I use now, that is also operating at a loss.
I know that’s a lot, but I’ve been working on sorting these things out for some time. In short, I’m burning it all down so I can start over. What will come from the ashes will be a leaner, meaner ETCG, that I hope my viewers, new and old, will appreciate.
Thanks again for all your support over the years. I say it often and I mean it, I appreciate each and every one of you. Without you, ETCG would not exist and I would not have the greatest job ever. I hope I’m able to stick around and do it for a few more years.
ETCG
P.S. I plan on making a thread discussing my plans for the website, likely in the ‘Forum News’ thread. If you have any comments on that, I would ask that you post them to that thread instead of here. Let’s keep this one about the future of ETCG as a whole.
Thanks again[/quote]
A few points:
1.) Eric because of you I’ve gotten into the auto repair field. So please don’t kill the forum it is a wonderful resource for me to learn from and to help others.
2.) Yes I do agree that the Fairmont Project has hurt your views. I enjoy watching you work on it however many people don’t and want the classic ETCG back.
3.) The lack of notifications is due to the recent (within the last 6 months) change to YouTube’s subscription/notification model. In the past all you had to do was hit subscribe and you were golden. Now not only do you have to subscribe but you also have to click the notification button (little bell looking thing) to pick how often you want to be notified of channel activity-the end user can set a default of NO NOTIFICATIONS quite by accident and then that will automatically apply to any new subscribed channels unless they explicitly hit the damn bell.
4.) Have you ever considered voice recognition or dication type software to lessen the load on your fingers/wrists/elbows and therefore be in better health?
5.) I have whitelisted your site so you get paid while I’m here in addition to being a premium member and purchasing 2 Vmanuals but I frequently see new content show up here BEFORE YouTube tells me about it by as much as 4-8 hours.Just some thoughts from a dedicated viewer.
[quote=”EricTheCarGuy” post=186755]I’m sure you’re aware that since I posted this video yesterday I’ve been inundated with suggestions about the direction I should take. [/quote]
I’m sure you are, and here I am adding another suggestion, lolAs a follower of yours for years, a premium member, and a contributor on the forums, there is nothing essentially wrong with your brand or the way it has developed, but there are some changes that could be made, as it is with every business, it will evolve over time, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. My suggestion is fairly simple, and would not require a great deal of extra effort. First, recognize that your repair videos for the common DIYer at home to educate them and save money on car repairs was/is the bread and butter of your brand. This is what “made” ETCG and the brand what it is today. Deviation from that magic formula can be good, but it has hurt, however not unrecoverable. Diversity in business is great, but deviation from success is not great. So, after all that said, here it is, my suggestion:
1) YouTube: You already have two channels. You don’t need more, just define them according to the model of success you had for years in the beginning: The main channel = repair vids, tool reviews, tips/tricks, automotive education. ETCG1 = everything else. Conversations, Fixing It Forward, Fairmont Project, etc. Basically everything that isn’t part of the original formula that made ETCG the successful brand it is. This way viewers that just want the “bread and butter” can go to the main channel, subscribe, etc., and viewers like myself that enjoy the full menu can subscribe to both. This also means that you can spend more time producing and posting the videos for the main channel, and then as you can get around to it, post the other project videos as you have time because there wouldn’t be any rush. Personally, I wouldn’t care if it took 5 years to get to see all the rest of the Fairmont videos, it would give me something to look forward to for a very long time, and it would free up your video editing schedule to nurture the main channel back to health.
2) YouTube part 2: Because of the way YouTube has changed how it works, this unfortunately requires you as a YouTuber to educate your viewers about this, as a non-YouTuber has no idea. Change your end card to explain briefly but with a little detail how to properly subscribe, get notifications, and whitelist the site, and plug your swag. Many viewers may not realize that their running of ad blockers also blocks your income. That seems intuitive for a YouTuber, but it isn’t for others. I’m sure you can come up with a charming and clever way to tackle this.
3) Website: Divide it up. Separate the main website and forum (see next point). They can be linked together without being on the same host. There are many other hosting companies besides GoDaddy, some are much cheaper or have a different tier structure so you could save money through optimizing your tier. There is also Amazon Web Services. Maybe you’ve already looked there, maybe not.
4) Forum: This is probably one of the best parts of your site, please don’t destroy it. There is an active community, a family of followers, and is a tremendous resource for folks in need. It is expensive the way it is, but that expense can be reduced, or even eliminated, by off-loading it to another host. This way even if the forum is slow it doesn’t slow down the rest of your site. I understand what you said about feeling guilty that you don’t respond to more of the requests for help. Of course you do, this was once your baby. But having an active community of knowledgeable techs and DIYers to help out is not you shirking your duties, it’s like having free employees. All you need to do is advertise the fact that you can’t always answer forum questions but are assisted by an active community of knowledgeable friends. Since you are using forum questions on your live Q&A rather then getting the questions from elsewhere, this reinforces your involvement with the forum without you actually needing to spend a lot of time or typing on it.
Ok, I’ll stop there before I write a novel. Hopefully this will provoke some thought from a different perspective.
I’d like to add my 2 cents to this as well. I feel this is a great forum first off and would suggest moving some of the forums that dont generate as much traffic or perhaps that do generate a fair bit of traffic to the premium members area such as something where someone will moderate it and questions could be answered faster (Via moderator or expert). As a premium member in before the price increase, I do support the price increase because like many have said this is a good resource and a nice place to hang around and learn stuff. It might be better to find a cheaper server and move the video hosting to someone lesser expensive, but more in line with the overall vision.
As for the videos, while not exactly a ford fan, it really is a remarkable thing for the fairmont project. You are following a dream, and when that is completed there will be other dreams. Sometimes people have to sit tight to get the content they want. Last time I checked everything here is based on the content of a single person, his interactions, his editing, and his performing. I would even be interested in the minimally edited videos, including blooper reels and out takes. But to be said, the money is where passion sometimes has to draw the line. Part of the reason is youtube yes, but the variety also an impact.
Overall the masses will go where it interests them. And the creator will go where he finds his niche.
Hey Eric!
Been watching since the beginning (around end of 09′), and it killed me a little inside to see this. I always speak highly of you to friends and familyt, and because of you you have saved my butt over $2000 in repairs (I started repairing my friends and family’s cars because of your videos). I will forver be grateful.
As for the forum – have you thought about looking into an “Anti-Ad block”? Kind of like the one Forbes has? It detects you’re using one and makes you whitelist the site before using? Just a thought on that.
Another one: I know this may take time, but at least till the fairmont project is done go back to “2 repair videos” a week? Wednesday is a fairmont video and Friday is a repair video? – Just a thought
Thanks again for all you do Eric!
– Mo.
Eric… some time ago when you were contemplating the switch to change the format to that of a build site for the Fairmont, a number of us crawled out from under our rocks and offered words of caution. We warned that your site would decline if you shifted your focus to build videos… and we were right.
You say you have experienced declining views, and that this is affecting your bottom line. I agree, for what my opinion might be worth. Your Video Empire is set up on views; you are the manufacturer of the video and we, your viewers, are the consumers. It may help if you think of yourself like a Retail Shop; we come to you to shop for your videos. We click, we watch, you get paid by the views.
What happened then and what is happening now is changing the entire dynamic. While I do see that lack of proper notification of your videos might cause a dip in viewership, it isn’t going to cause as much a dip as you think. Many of us come to your website to seek your work out; we’ll see your videos here even if we don’t get a bleep from YouTube, right?
The problem is… think of it like this. If a Retail Shop is known for making the most wonderful and varied flavors of Ice Cream, they’re going to be quite popular.In this analogy, it’d be like the Shop deciding to concentrate solely on Clam-and-Scallop flavored ice cream instead of Chocolate chip, Rocky Road, etc. Yes, there may be a few souls out there that might actually enjoy that, but by and large… most of us won’t. We’ll keep stopping by to check out the older flavors and see if any is still in stock, or if there might be something else we’d enjoy.. but we’ll avoid the Clam-and-Scallop because it simply doesn’t interest us.
Your videos are much the same way, but with a twist. Yes, you HAVE worked hard for many, many years. Yes, I DO think you deserve to build a car, if you so choose. The problem? There are far too many of your paying customers that don’t want to watch it. Yes, some do. But the cold equations of the matter are quite clear; the Fairmont Videos are NOT cutting it financially for you. Your viewership is in decline, you’ve said so yourself. Why? Because you’re no longer selling the product you were, and this has led them to drift away and go elsewhere. In other words… there are those that don’t want to pay for it, and won’t.
I think there is also some lingering resentment about the Fixing-It-Forward campaign. A LOT of your viewers were gung-ho about contributing to this. You even still have the ‘donate for fixing it forward’ button on your site! And yet, FiF is on hiatus… and if I read it correctly, is being held hostage against an increase of viewers. You said, I believe, that if the viewers don’t increase, then FiF won’t really come back. A LOT of us were really looking towards that, and we wanted to help it grow and flourish. We lauded you (and still do!) for the work you did to help others. But… you’re not concentrating on that. You’re not producing the repair videos and FiF videos that brought a lot of us here. You’re concentrating on the Fairmont Project… something that your viewers’ views paid for.. and it isn’t a project that you intend to auction off to a Charity, or auction off to support FiF… it’s a toy for yourself.
Do I think you deserve that toy? Absolutely. But do I want to watch videos of you building the toy? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. There’s a reduction of your viewership, right there. A bunch of others feel the same way, it seems… as your viewership decline has shown.
Another problem is the fact that you said.. let’s see if I can get this direct quote right… “If after the Fairmont videos are done, you think I’m going back to Repair Videos.. think again.’. Well… those that were hanging around and checking back periodically to see if there WERE repair videos to watch… they’ll stop coming back at all, now. You’re insisting on producing Fairmont Videos to near exclusion… Clam-and-Scallop flavored ice cream… and are concerned when it doesn’t sell.
YouTube is an excellent microcosm of Capitalism, when you think about it. If you produce a product that people want.. (YogsCast, SovietWomble, TotalBiscuit) then you’ll succeed. If you don’t… then you won’t.
This is your channel, Eric… and as one of the beneficiaries of the FiF program (My Dad, Jerry Hall, still drives that Sentra you fixed for him and we are forever in your debt as a result) I always pray for your channel’s success.
You are a 20+ year veteran of things Mechanical.. you know your way around a car. I’m a 20+ year veteran of things Networking and Internet (Back when it was still mostly a DARPA-based project, even pre-AOL and Prodigy!). I have seen this play out before… I fear, Eric, that you are in the shoals with precious little water left under your keel. If you want to make your living at YouTube, as uncomfortable as it might seem, you’ve got to pander to those most willing to click and watch. It’s the only way to succeed.
Whatever you decide, you have my support. If you truly decide that you’re done with YouTube because you are tired of making only repair videos.. then I can understand and respect that. Then it’s time to develop a new product and try that, instead. It will take years to build back up to where you were before the decline, but you’ll make it. You’ve one of the strongest work ethics I’ve ever seen. The Fairmont videos aren’t cutting it as the decline shows. Perhaps pushing FiF to the forefront might revitalize the channel. There was, and is, a whole lot of passion and energy for that just waiting to be tapped.
For what my opinion might be worth.
Take care, Eric.
-Hinoki
The fairmont project, while awesome, isn’t something most people are going to be able to accomplish in their lifetime. Most people won’t have that much money to dump into an old car.
It’s the videos that people can relate to that get the views. People want to see someone else tear apart the car they’re going to be working on before they tear into their own car as it gives them confidence to do so. I believe they also like to see you suffer, like the time you worked on the pontiac montana minivan. That was a great video series!!! When you drilled into the cooling jacket, I was hooked and subsequently signed up for a premium membership so I could see how you fixed it. Been a premium member since.
For what it’s worth, danieljagerfilms made a video about “driving on a flat tire” and has close to 500K views already. I don’t know what the recipe is, but fairmont build videos aren’t appealing to lots of people. I’m still interested in seeing the finished product though.
Maybe incorporate a hot chick into your videos. Look at iJustine’s channel. She makes videos about how she cracked her screen for the 3rd time and has hundreds of thousands of views. They’re not useful videos at all. But people watch because she’s a hottie.
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