Blog Update: September 2023
It’s been one year since MartinMoney.com was launched. As I recall, I clicked the “Go Live” button on August 30, 2022.
After significant consideration, I’ve decided not to buy myself a smash cake.
Instead, I wrote a long, separate update post to recap the entire last year.
I was going to include it in this update, but when I started writing it, I decided it was way too long.
If you want to read that post, here is a link to the first year in review.
For an update on the last month, read on…
Last Month (August)
If you’ve been reading these blog updates, you know I’ve turned my attention largely toward YouTube and away from writing.
I have drafted a few posts in the last month, but for the most part, I’ve been posting articles that were written earlier in the summer.
At the beginning of the month, I had 8 complete videos and 10 recorded and ready for posting on YouTube.
By the end of August, I had 21 complete videos and 26 recorded, which is giving me a little bit of heartburn to even consider.
It was a lot of work.
My goal was 30 and I knew even back at the beginning of the month that 30 would be a near impossible goal to obtain.
The good news is I don’t really need 30 videos completed until mid-October.
You know shoot for the stars. Maybe you’ll hit the moon?
The more interesting thing to share is how much faster I’ve gotten at creating videos.
Initially, I was probably spending 90 minutes of working time for each minute of finished video.
Now, I’d estimate that I spend about 45 minutes for each minute of finished video.
I’m still not very fast, but there is plenty of room for improvement which I am trying to fill up as quickly as I can.
Here are a few of the things I’ve learned about YouTubing that may be helpful if you decide to set up a channel for yourself:
- You will be terrible and uncomfortable at first. A little voice will constantly whisper in your ear “You can’t do this. No one is going to watch this garbage. You’ll never get the hang of this. It’s hopeless.” Ignore it.
- If you struggle with talking too little or too much in front of the camera, write scripts for yourself. Stop as frequently as you need to and simply cut out the footage that you don’t need. This takes a lot of the pressure off.
- Having a written script also makes editing much easier because you have a que card of sorts when you start cleaning up your recording.
- The more effort you put into the recording process, the more time you’ll save editing.
- Davinci Resolve is a free video editing software and what they give you in the free version is quite impressive. Get it and look up free plugins on YouTube. There are a lot of great resources that can save you tons of editing time.
- I bought a couple of plugins from MotionFX to up my game on production quality and save time. Money well spent. They have some free plugins too, though these are relatively limited from a functionality standpoint.
- Editing is hard at first, but it gets easier. Just keep at it and don’t be afraid to search for tips if there’s a certain motion effect or some other trick you want to put into your content. There are so many generous and helpful people out there.
- The process of loading video to YouTube is a snap. Once you start doing this you’ll realize there are steps you can add to your editing process that will make uploads even easier. Specifically, marking chapters in your recordings, marking any references you make to links to other videos or posts, etc.
Launching YouTube
My plan for YouTube has always been to build up a portfolio of videos and release several of them in one day, then slowly turn down the volume until I’m dropping one video per week.
So, starting on September 1st, I’ll be posting three videos. The next day, I’ll post two more. Then, every day for the next seven days I’ll post one video.
So, after nine days I’ll have 12 videos out on the platform.
For the three weeks following that initial burst, I’ll add three per week. That puts us at 21 for the month.
Next, I’ll go to two posts per week for another four weeks (29 total now), before dropping to one post per week.
I may add more than one some weeks, but we’ll see.
I also plan to write a post announcing this along with a playlist, but it will precede this blog update. So, if you didn’t see it, go back and check it out won’t you?
Site Traffic
We’re making some progress.
After months of indexing woes, our posts are showing up more and more often in search engine results.
Our impressions (that is, the number of people who actually see us in their search results) have grown significantly. About half of these ranking posts are related to Roth IRAs and 401(k)s which we focused on heavily beginning in May.
In summary, our attempt to “niche down” a bit and focus on a central topic has paid off…some.
We have definitely received more exposure, but it hasn’t resulted in much additional traffic. Only a handful of clicks into the site have come from web search results.
This is a bit disappointing, but I am encouraged that we are slowly moving in the right direction.
I’m also reminded that I don’t spend any time promoting the site right now, so I shouldn’t really expect just another option in a long list of options to stand out in any particular way.
Once I get the YouTube thing going, I plan to focus more on guest posting and connecting with other creators to boost our presence a bit.
Striking a Balance
I’ve worked very, very hard on getting the YouTube thing going and once it is I need to settle into a more sustainable rhythm.
I’ve got the will and an endless list of ideas that would allow me to work on this for hours and hours and hours on end, but I have other responsibilities too.
My family has spent too much time looking at me through my office door and I’ve got to set up some better boundaries around their time.
This stuff is important to me, but there’s a danger in mixing up priorities when one endeavors on a project like this.
In summary, I’ve got to find a routine that optimizes my time on this project and keeps it confined to a manageable amount each week. August needs to be an outlier, not the norm.
Sorry to be all transparent with you, but if you set out to do something like this, be forewarned. It can be fun, but it can also be very distracting.
Put a fence around what matters most.
Wrap Up
I’m still having fun.
There’s still plenty of uncertainty about what lies ahead. I am still full of energy and enthusiasm, but not sure about what will come of it.
It’s as if the Lord has provided the passion and the power, but not a map.
Onward I go.
