Building an audience with purpose

A visual representation of my left and right hemispheres working together.

I’ve been going back and forth between ideas for how I would like to shape my youtube channel. It is a great platform for building an audience and potentially monetizing your material. My uncertainty lies in how I would like to present content that varies from the short films I prefer to create.

The human mind will always separate items through genres, labels, and categories. Many fantastic actors wind up being “type cast” after performing a strong and memorable role as a certain character. In-N-Out, one of the most successful fast-food franchises ever conceived, coincidentally also has one of the simplest menus. Radio host and political figures who frequently side with a single party succeed, whereas those who seek to promote a balanced viewpoint often struggle.

Simply put – creators are bound by the expectations of their audience.

Why is this important? Because if I seek to grow my youtube channel by posting new content more frequently I must first come to terms with whom I’d like to attract. Regardless of which direction I choose to go in, I am confident that I will gain more subscribers and views. My uncertainty come from knowing that the material that reels in the most new viewers is not necessarily the best for my overarching goals.

Let’s say I make a series of instructional videos for how to use Adobe Premiere Pro. It is the editing software I am most familiar with and it wouldn’t take a ton of effort to shed light on some topics that at one point caused me tremendous frustration. Instructional videos of all types are overwhelmingly popular – no different than the “non-fiction” section of any bookstore in comparison to any “fiction” section. When I formerly pursued a traditional publishing route as a writer, I learned that non-fiction books were written by sending the query letter to publishers before the book was even written. With novels they expect you to have a finished book, a target audience, and a marketing package before they even open your first email.

So it seems like a no-brainer, right? The challenge with going this route is that I will develop an audience of fellow filmmakers. They will not be stopping by my channel to support my films, but to gain in knowledge. In other words I will not be growing a classroom rather than building a fan base.

The other avenue that is lucrative to me is the regular short film route. I’ve seen other social media personalities generate an enormous following by creating short, funny films with themselves playing multiple roles. This does not appeal to me because A.) The attracted followers will only be there for micro films and B.) I am seeking to produce quality, emotionally moving films – something that this type of audience will not have the patience for.

A more specific youtuber who I’ve really become a fan of is Joel Carver, who produces weekly short films with some real effort going into each sketch. His films are funny, tell a story, and have become an unquestionable success. The most important part is that he has built an audience from his ability to entertain – and that is no small feat. My hang-up here is that producing stories of this nature and caliber require an enormous amount of time and exertion. As long as I am creating 10-20 minute episodes I will not have the time to do both.

After much speculation I have decided the best route will be to involve my audience in the filmmaking process. In many ways I believe these films will be instructional in nature. The major distinction will be my discipline in relating each segment to “Mountain Cult.” The second hugely important task will be to make the videos a form of entertainment. Rather than merely stating “Here’s how I do X, then Y, and now I move onto Z” I’d like to wrap it up in the form of a story (though I’m not yet sure how).

The two major goals of creating new videos that are not actual short films will be to:

Build a niche fanbase for “Mountain Cult.”Produce a new segment on a weekly basis at a minimal cost.Target an audience for story, rather than a classroom of fellow creators.Sell items or solicit donations to help finance my productions.Present my self as a serious filmmaker – rather than a youtuber.

I already have a vague idea of what I may do for the first video, but this post has been long enough. I’m not exactly excited about this particular step forward, though I do know it is in the right direction. I have spent a great amount of time this week discussing the script of Episode 5 with others and have been making major improvements. I’m very excited because I believe it will be the best story I have told through cinema. I am also nervous because it is more complex than episode 4 (which was mostly action) and therefore will be more strenuous for viewer if I do not make the necessary adjustments now.

That’s all I’ve got for today. Make the most of this fine Friday and remember that there is nothing preventing you from carrying out your work as if you already are where you aim to be. If you wait for permission to treat your passion as if it’s your job then it will never become one.