Hey Nemo. I'm back with another annoyingly long letter. I watched your stream a bit on a couple of the days that you were at the Botez place, especially the first night. You ended up talking a bit about life and YouTube. A few ideas came to mind when listening to you. Please keep in mind these really might not be good ideas for you in particular because you might not be interested in doing any of them at all or they might be too much work or change. But they are just different thoughts I had on what you were talking about, with you as an example let's say. Best wishes for a great summer Nemo.
1 On YouTube Videos And Views
TLDR - Someone might consider other topics for YouTube like food, wine, fashion, travel, or lifestyle videos
One thing you were talking about was not getting enough views and subscribers on YouTube. You might consider using YouTube to try posting videos of another one of your passions, other than just chess. You could do different things on YouTube than you do on Twitch and treat it more like Instagram than Twitter. Reviews and travels seem to be two things that people like watching on YouTube. Also, you seem to have a passion for some of these things, maybe even more than chess. You could maybe do reviews or just talk about things like food, drinks, wine, fashion, clothes, restaurants, or other things you enjoy. You could also throw in some travel sites, art galleries, or museums if you want and people might enjoy seeing them too as long as they are things you want to do or see.
2 On Revenue From Ads And Sponsors
TLDR - Someone might consider making videos to also get into places, do things for free, and maybe get free stuff
Besides focusing on something you might be more passionate about than chess and doing something you can learn more about since you enjoy learning, I see two other possible perks. One is that ad revenue is based on views, but also certain topics will do much better. Making videos on food, travel, and lifestyle topics and products could bring many more potential ads, partners, and sponsors for your videos and content than doing chess videos. The other potential perk is that you could focus on going to places for free and maybe even getting free stuff sometimes. Part of your goal might be to get into places or maybe get free stuff in return for making a YouTube video about them, or posting it to Instagram or other places. While you might end up making more money with more views and ads with these types of videos too, you could at least get to do some things you enjoy for free if nothing else.
3 On Male Versus Female Followers
TLDR - Someone might get more women followers and have a larger combined audience if you make lifestyle videos on YouTube
In terms of your brand and marketing, I would guess Twitch is probably mostly men and boys following and watching you. Twitter might also be quite a few guys who are interested in chess, even though it might be mixed and more girls probably follow you there than Twitch. Similarly, there are probably many girls following you on Instagram, especially compared to Twitch, and YouTube currently. But if you do lifestyle things on YouTube like food, restaurants, drink, wine, fashion, clothes, you will likely get many women followers which you do not currently get from your chess and video game videos and streams. So your overall audience on all platforms could go up. Twitch seems great for chess and chatting because you can do it easily and talk if you feel like it. YouTube could have more lifestyle videos but still some chess. Instagram is basically more lifestyle and photos already, so could go well with potential new YouTube content. Twitter could maybe be a bit more chess and some lifestyle, like Twitch.
4 On IRL Versus Videos In Public
TLDR - Someone might consider mostly making videos when in public and travelling, and leave IRL for updates from a laptop sometimes
One other reason I mentioned an idea for YouTube videos is because I sometimes wonder if it might be a better use of someone's time and energy when travelling or going out. It's really neat that you have tried IRL streaming and if you like that and keep doing it I think it's an interesting idea to get into for sure. But it seems like a lot of work and mental energy to do it all the time, which you could instead put into making YouTube videos or other content of things you are passionate about instead, and maybe enjoy the experience better that way too. Instead of live streaming when you travel you might consider focusing a bit more on creating YouTube videos instead. You could maybe do a short Twitch stream from your hotel room on your laptop to connect with people and update them instead of real IRL streaming all the time or for long periods of time. But doing reviews of food, drinks, restaurants, clothes, etc. will give you something to look forward to do and make videos for when you travel. If you throw in a video of things like museums or galleries of art since you seem to maybe enjoy that too, or any other tourist sites and places that you are passionate about and visit, people might love that too I'm sure.
5 On Following Your Passions
TLDR - My bigger point is really that maybe what can work well when making content is creating and doing things one is passionate about firstly, and also that is something that a lot of people are interested in seeing
With all of this said, if your passion really is in games and doing exactly what you are doing now and that's what you really want to be doing, definitely keep doing that. Whether it's chess or other games. Or continuing with doing more IRL while travelling. I think that just doing whatever you are passionate about doing that you can share with people might be the most important thing. Not only because that could bring someone success with more money, but also because you will enjoy doing it even if you don't make oodles of money. Ultimately, that is one of the things I admire about people like you and others who figure out a way to do something they enjoy. It's quite the life to be able to make some money from playing games and chatting with people if that is what someone enjoys doing 😉
I just wondered if also trying to make some videos about one of your other passions like drinks, wine, food, restaurants, fashion, clothes, travel, and lifestyle products seems like a possible idea if you continue to make content, and especially for YouTube. Mainly because you might have an even bigger passion for those things than chess since you seem to talk about them more, enjoy learning about them, and enjoy talking about them. And also because there is a chance that those subjects of videos and posts might resonate with a larger audience and translate into more views, followers, ads, sponsors, free stuff, and money in the long term.
6 On Gratitude And Being Lucky
TLDR - When life seems tough or not as great as you had hoped, try to remember that because of your intelligence, upbringing, health, and other factors that you likely have an easier and better life than at least 95% of people in the world now, and likely over 99% of people in the history of the world
Conclusion - On My Stupid Ideas In This Letter
The previous letter that I wrote to you may have had some actual helpful life advice. I think this letter might not be nearly as good in that way. Except maybe the sixth point, which I resisted even writing about to keep things simpler and on your work. I just enjoy thinking of ideas really, and these are a few of the thoughts I had on your YouTube videos, the content you make for people, and some thoughts on your work and current career I guess, after hearing you talk about it a bit. This time those ideas might not be too helpful at all or might even throw you off track. Even I might recommend to mostly ignore them in this case and just go on about making and doing what you enjoy and feel passionate about doing, or doing whatever else you feel you need to do to make your life easier, better, happier, or more enjoyable for you. See ya Nemo.