So most of this blog, ok almost all of it revolves around me and my life. I do wonder how others are doing on their financial journey. Some of the general questions that come to mind…
1. Are you facing tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt?
2. Are you one of the lucky Americans who are still fully employed? Have you been recently furloughed? Have you had to take a pay cut?
3. Are you planning a major lifestyle change?
4. What if anything keeps you coming back to my blog?
5. Is there any type of information I could present that you would find beneficial?
After making a series of blog posts from January on, I had to look in the mirror figuratively speaking. Was the content I posted providing value to anyone else? Or was it 100% focused on me? I had less than 10 subscribers even after having posted 24 videos. My tactics for generating more subs was a bit cringe-worthy and didn’t actually work.
If you try something and fail after a few times, there is no shame in starting over provided that is an option.
Will I post content again under a different channel? Possibly. It needs to be quality informational content though. The “hey here’s a net worth type update” videos don’t really offer value or entertainment to others.
Also found some good idea on things your channel must have from Twin Cities Collective. Basically my channel didn’t have a single one of those elements I they recommended every one have. So I’m extremely humbled. Thanks for watching my content if you saw it before. All these videos are still saved in my personal archives.
For those who don’t want to go to another site…
1. Logo?
2. Banner
3. Social Media / Website Links
4. Custom URL
5. Front Page Full of Videos
6. Playlists
7. Videos with Consistent Thumbnails
8. Annotations (I think these were phased out)
9. Subscriber Count
10. About Section
Here’s another one from Search Engine Journal on Elements of a Successful YouTube video.
1. Branded intro footage
2. An attention-grabbing intro
3. Background Music
4. Being Clearly Audible
5. Brevity
6. Customized Experiences
7. Call To Action
Maybe I sound like a broken record here. I’m a firm believe that you can learn from others. You might not experience the exact same results for yourself, but man.. If I knew now what I knew in 2010 I would have made some different choices in life.
Debt Free Alpha 
2 responses to “How Are You Doing?”
1. When I started reading your blog, I was very deep in student loan debt. I enjoy following along on your journey. I graduated with my Bachelor’s in 2013 with $51K in student loans, and paid them off in 5 years, 3 months. I buckled down and wanted to knock them out as soon as possible.
2. I’m still fully employed, but all employees were required to take a 15% pay cut in April at our company. They go back to normal on the paycheck this Friday. I feel thankful because that’s only 3 paychecks. Did I miss the money? Yes. BUT I still have a job, so I can’t complain.
3. A major lifestyle change? My partner and I bought a house in March. I already own a condo downtown where we live. We closed and only worked a few days before we both started working from home because of Covid-19. It has definitely been a major lifestyle change. We’re still adjusting to being around each other 24-7, but it has been nice.
4. Like I said earlier, I keep coming to your blog for the content and following along on your journey! Your blog is one of the only ones I follow and usually don’t comment. I should get better about that HA! It’s nice to see other people striving for the same thing in the financial realm of things and have the same mindset.
5. I say just keep on doing what you’re doing!
Hey Will! Nice to meet you virtually!
I honestly didn’t know you were one of the people reading this blog!
1. Congratulations on paying off those loans, that’s quite an accomplishment! Too many people operate from the mindset that their debt is not an emergency. I see it all the time. Before they know $50k becomes 60, 70+ with interest.
2. Similar situation here, I took a 3% pay cut which is really nothing. Know a lot of others who got a partial or full furlough.I’m so fortunate I wasn’t one of them. I at the bare minimum was able to pay off my car at least through this job.
3. A house together is a big step. Hopefully you are able to sell or rent out the condo you have. Yeah that is like going from 0-100 with all the stay-at-home orders in place. I find personal space and getting fresh air to be very important, even compartmentalize my leisure vs work time in my 1br apartment. Hopefully things go great over the long term. After splitting up with my ex and the townhouse we had an amicable split, I got some equity out and he didn’t have to sell. No lawyers involved just a basic promise to pay. Without sounding doom and gloom, just set clear boundaries and respect each other no matter what happens is all I’ll say.
4. Thank you for continuing to read what I post. Sometimes it seems like I’m writing to myself on here. Of course people come and go over the years, never know who is actively viewing. A lot of this isn’t sexy, it’s discipline over time and reaping the benefits of the seeds we sow while we’re still young.
5. I will. The once a month updates feel right unless there is something major happening I feel a strong need to post about. Lately I find myself thinking about how to expedite my wealth building process. That’s pretty vague I know.
Last but not least thanks for your comment! It means a lot.