I find myself naturally skeptical (in a friendly, curious way) that this can drive, organically, attributable revenue that can be felt *versus* other uses of time.

Describing this might be a great EOY post, but any response is valued. I’d love to learn.

That’s a great way to put it. I think a free flow saves time for a lot of people, but you’re right that it can also add more pressure. I hope to add some free flow reaction videos this year because they are easier to edit. But they aren’t likely to be my primary format.

It bothers me that so many people quit. I truly believe it’s because they frame success poorly. They are so focused on views and comments and maybe other metrics that are difficult to track. You really have to let go of that stuff, especially in the beginning. Gaining traction takes a long time, and people don’t want to hear that. If you embrace that it will take a year to make an impact and two to three years to gain true traction, and focus on the goal of publishing rather than some result that’s outside of your control, it actually gets much easier.

Honestly, Scott, letting go of direct measurement of video impact is one of the things that allowed me to keep going. If you insist on being able to directly measure impact of video, one of two things is likely to happen:

1. You’ll get frustrated and quit
2. Every video will be filled with CTAs that will annoy the viewer

For me, the ROI is that I still have a business. That’s also why it’s impossible to measure. My business was moving backward when I started this. I don’t know where I’d be if I continued on that path. I may not have a business at all. Instead, starting this journey was like grabbing the back of a runaway car and digging my heels in. It helped me slow the decline, and hopefully stop and reverse it.

How much of my revenue is directly attributed to these videos? I have no idea. I just know that I get daily reminders that they are impactful.

Something that people need to understand is that this isn’t a two-month strategy. You can’t commit to any type of new format and expect to make traction that quickly. Your focus should be on the creation and celebration of each published video. Create good content and integrate some methods for building your presence (engage with others, follow others, drive from website or email). It’s a slow process that will not happen overnight.

Awesome, Melanie. Thank you so much for watching! The main thing is we need to measure video differently than we do website traffic — that was one of my big adjustments early. There’s so much value in “being seen” and people getting to know you through video.