My Channel Passed 6,000,000+ Views! But… Amazing tips

My YouTube Channel has passed 6,000,000 views! If you've yet to visit it, I encourage you to do so. The content is free and dedicated to enhancing your appreciation and knowledge of succulents.

I've released over 150 videos since How to Stress Succulents and Why (3:46) came out in July, 2011. It's had 100K+ views, despite amateur mistakes like setting up the camera so the image is vertical.

How to Stress Succulents and Why

That first video's content is fine, but I just now noticed neglected comments and questions. That's a no-no. YouTube is a form of social media, which means it's interactive. I suspect it's too late...or is it? What if I answered your question nine years later? LOL

A bit of backstory

The year prior, in 2010, my books' publisher had commissioned a video to accompany the release of Succulent Container Gardens. We set up at Oasis Water Efficient Gardens nursery. In it, I show how to select and combine succulents in a blue pot. How to Plant a Succulent Container Garden (6:13 min., 400K views) is on Timber Press' channel. During filming, it dawned on me: "Hey! I could do this!"

Most popular videos

From one of my Laura Eubanks videos

YouTube is all about showing step-by-step how to do something. Seven years ago, I noticed that San Diego garden designer Laura Eubanks was amazingly good at demonstrating and explaining her methods. She was witty, engaging and fearless, with a distinctive and appealing design style.

I suggested that Laura let me make a video of her creating one of her pocket gardens. Then I edited the footage down to the best bits. The resulting releases: How to Create a Succulent Pocket Garden with Laura Eubanks (12:37 min., 347K views) and Laura Eubanks' Succulent Garden Design Secrets (3:40 min., 323K views) are among my channel's most popular. Since then, Laura has gone on to become a garden celebrity---deservedly so---and to create her own hugely popular YouTube channel.

What makes my channel unique

For years, as a contributor to Sunset and other publications, I focused on beautiful-yet-doable residential gardens. Now, as a succulent expert and author, my goal is to present well researched, useful info that is timely and relevant, that I have personal experience with, and that is consistent with my brand.

Of course it helps I'm in Southern California, the epicenter of all things succulent. We have some of the best designers, plant experts, specialty nurseries and private succulent gardens anywhere in the world. In my own Zone 9b garden, I show you plant-pot pairings, gift and holiday projects, and seasonal garden tasks.

How much time is involved?

It takes about a day to create two or three minutes of finished video. This includes preparation, research, deciding what to include, planning what-happens-when, set-up, coordinating with a helper (if any), actual filming time, shooting or compiling stills, voice-over, editing and splicing clips, adjusting audio, and (grrr) contending with Apple's new Catalina OS (which  my older iMovie program doesn't like).

I do all my own editing. This screenshot is from my Succulents in a Clamshell DIY video.

But what's really frustrating...

No question there's much to be proud of, but also plenty I wish I'd done differently. It's a learning process, and of all my endeavors, videography is the least polished. Once on YouTube, there's no fixing a video without deleting it, which means erasing comments and view count. (I can always modify the description, title, thumbnail, and outbound links.)

If I had time, I'd redo my early videos. I've since ditched the annoying music. I now film only at high resolution, add closed captions [CC] for the hearing-impaired, provide plant names and resources, and respond promptly to viewer questions. Yet while overall channel views continue to rise, newer (better!) releases are being seen less and less.

You can help

Critique my channel. Let me know what you like and don't, especially among my post-2017 releases. What would you like to see more of? Less? Does length matter? And if you have a successful YouTube channel yourself, what would you suggest?

I can't complain

Every so often a comment---like this one---makes it all worthwhile.

A comment on my Agave Essentials video

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