My Youtube Story

One year ago I begin making videos on YouTube. For a while I couldn’t find my niche; I bounced around making daily vlogs to more formal sit down discussions. Being a telecommunications major I had the tools necessary to create content but it wasn’t being interpreted as I had hoped. I wasn’t a “YouTuber” yet. I was just a kid with a camera, and for those familiar with YouTube there’s much more to it than that. In May 2013 I met a guy named Ethan. Today, we have been dating for nearly nine months. It was then I found my niche.

After months of filming videos alone with around 1,000 views per video and a subscriber count of 3,500, we surpassed that number within a few days. In a weeks time my channel had 20,000 subscribers. A video we made together entitled Awkward Kissing appeared on several sites including the Huffington Post. The video consisted of us performing a number of classically awkward kisses, which seemed juvenile at the time. We made our first video together on May 29^th and since then we have made over 40.

Since Awkward Kissing, we have developed a brand and are slowly expanding our demographic. Our main demographic are homosexuals, obviously, but it’s far broader than that. Being that we are comfortable with ourselves at an early stage in life, people seek our help for endless reasons. Accepting yourself exceeds sexuality, thus we aim to provide anonymous responses to anyone in need. YouTube has been the biggest ‘game changer’ either of us has experienced; we only hope to continue for years to come.

Being in front of a camera is like being on stage; you have the attention of your audience and what you say and do can be powerful. YouTube, as an alternative media, gives Ethan and I a voice; one that can be heard around the world while it was once recorded in a small town in Indiana. I begin every video with a motto and it goes like this, “Good morning everyone, its gonna be a great day and do you know why… because everyday is a great day.” Clearly, this motto isn’t accurate based on the ups and downs we experience in our daily lives but I’d like to think just being alive makes a day great.

Google bought YouTube in 2006, since then they have adopted Google’s intricate analytical system. And with this, users are able to monitor their personal statistics from playback locations, ad performance, and audience retention. On average, our videos run between five to seven minutes. On average, our viewers will watch a video for three minutes. However, these numbers fluctuate with video uploads, which are every Monday, in case you were wondering. You don’t need to be an expert on analytics to understand these numbers. Think about the last time you watched a YouTube video, the cute kitten thumbnail caught your eye on the sidebar and you were gone.

 I will be honest; half the stuff Google provides us is complete gibberish to me but to the right person, its gold. There is something I do understand, that’s if someone clicks on our video and immediately decides to click away, that number is recorded as a view. When this occurs, our retention rate averages are skewed, but those are just numbers. As a YouTuber, we are constantly brainstorming new video ideas to reach a broader audience. Recently, I wrote a video called A Day in the Life of MarkE Miller. My intention was to create a short two-minute video that showed my daily routine from when I woke up in the morning to when I closed my eyes at night. Being that it was only two minutes, substantially shorter than our typical videos, it had the highest average percentage viewed of all my videos of 79% and 105,000 views in one week. You’re thinking, “Mark, just make shorter videos and your retention will increase,” and I cannot argue with that logic. However, I know our average viewer appreciates our longer videos as they can temporarily escape their world and enter ours.

Ethan and I provide a comfort zone that many gay men and women cannot experience in their own lives. Its saddening yes, but their day will come when they can feel comfortable in their own skin. Like I always say, it doesn’t matter if you’re 15 or 50, there’s no right time to come out, the time is right when you feel it in your heart. I felt this two years ago and ever since I haven’t once regretted it. Ethan is my true happiness in life and I credit him for helping me find myself. Currently, we are followed by 155,000 of the most lovable subscribers.

Well this blog turned out a little different than I had imagined. It’s a cluster of personal and somewhat professional details of my life but thanks for taking the time to read this and if you would like to contact me for any reason, please do not hesitate. 

My YouTube Channel: MarkE Miller