Calling All Subscribers!!!

Fran watch this video from a fellow Youtuber to get more insight: https://youtu.be/9YQguhFKSWY

Hi Fran, thankyou for the little treasure you sent me :-) Windows10... well, i have more or less 50 PC and servers , i'm still using Win7 64 on all my computers, and WindowsXP and XP64 on some servers and laptop. No way i will move to 10 now. I have 10 on a computer that i use for experimentation and is an abominion! I have to hack windows the way i want or i will move over some other OS like Linux ( that i don't like too much but better than move over MacOS )

MVVblog

I like the project videos and the teardowns. I also enjoy your vintage component videos and the videos where you incorporate the vintage components into your projects, and then explain the whys and wherefores as to how things work and why you decided on that course of action versus an other. Some examples include your recent 2001 console prop project, the one where you built a bench power supply, the heathkit signal tracer video, the Nimo tube videos, and that one where you went through your LED and display stash. The Mailbag videos are fun too, but I do understand that you're space constrained and that it isn't practical for you to do them any longer. :) Also, I don't always have time to watch your videos right when they come out, but I usually get around to watching them eventually. I apologize if that skews the Youtube Metrics for you.

Brendan Meteer

I'm a 70 YO geek who'se into old electronics and projects. Frants, not so much. I get notifications from Patreon 100% and YT slightly less. I actually watch probably 90%.. Question: If I watch a videon on Patreon, does that register on the YT numbers? That may be a stupid question, but it looks to me like the Patreon vidoes are actually being streamed by YT.

HarveyB

I like your project videos. Why I started following and contribute.

Gilbert Pfaff

I always have to decide whether to dedicate time to shoot a video or just set it up so I can use it.

Fran Blanche

Yea, my fellow tech vloggers do say that our kind of content is pretty fringe in YouTube terms. Perhaps if YouTube makes us our own distinct category it would mean a much more concentrated and engaged audience.

Fran Blanche

Hang in there Sosh!

Fran Blanche

It's back up now...

Fran Blanche

On your channel I had no failure of notifications, but I had another channel that I was still subscribed , but did not finde the weekly posted videos in my subscriber video list. I removed and re-subscribed and now it works again.

GETTING A 404, not found, on your Win-10 Video !!!

Howard Higgins

yeah, I think YT subscriber numbers are misleading. I probably only watch 10% of the videos from creators that I am subscribed to. I think focus and regularity are important for me. For example one of my favourites always releases on thurs, so I know I will probably watch that, and any other recent videos from my subscribed creators after that

I am subscribed to a girl who have 10k subscribers and on average has 30 views on her videos. On YT subscribers is not equal exposure. That is why everybody tells us to hit the bell icon.

Simon Mikkelsen

I don't subscribe to any YT -channel. Follow quite a few channels.

A couple of things: subscriber and patron; you haven't dropped off my subscription list; I don't always watch immediately but I do eventually; your content does not need improving, the general educational background of Youtube hoi polloi does; I wouldn't think less of you if you occasionally made controversial content solely for views/cash (stick it to the MAN!). Keep on doin' what you do.

I have a broad range of interests and many subscriptions. They generate more content than I can ingest. YouTube knows this, so it uses my LIKES and DISCUSSIONS to identify what I am truly engaged with. If you consider which of your videos have had the most likes and comments, I am confident that these are also the most viewed. YouTube equates ENGAGEMENT with popularity and will promote these videos. If you solicit engagement, you'll increase your views. "Please LIKE and SUBSCRIBE and ring the BELL!" As lame as this prompt is, it is a necessary evil. Thumbnails are also crucial. Studies have demonstrated that faces and arrows and a title that prompts curiosity all help to prompt viewers to start a video. There are plenty of goood online courses you could look at in this space.

SpringRat

The problem we all have is that we think that other people think like we do. I think that you are a polymath and your channel reflects that, your subject matter attracts other polymath who are the dedicated part of your viewer base. Other people may dip in and out of your content for what first appealed to them e.g. NASA, old electronics, music electronics, woodworking, science woodworking. As a polymath we can't understand that because we think it's all fascinating that other people don't think like that. For example there are people out there that buy compilation albums or singles rather than single artist albums. The younger generations are used to cherry picking what they want to define themselves and it extends from music to video and fashion. Where our generation follow bands and buy their albums and listen to each track in sequence to appreciate the concept of nuance and context. In fashion we adopted grass root movements to formulate our identity. The new generations seek immediate gratification and have a more diverse taste now because they have access to social content faster than we ever did. It's ok to be a punk one day and a rocker the next. It's just the way it is. I suggest that you do a survey on survey monkey and find out who your real hard core are ... age profession, and importantly what video first made them want to subscribe. Then what they don't like. You may find splitting some your content into different channels on more specific topics may be good experiment to see if you attracts more viewing loyalty. What's your goal? What do you want from YouTube ? Just viewers or to be appreciated for your art? If the latter you may have to be satisfied with a hard core viewer base of other polymaths. I bet you other polymath treat YouTube channels like music albums ...we have fewer subscriptions but we watch them diligently. The increasingly growing younger audience have way more subscriptions, but skim through the content like a compilation albums selecting the tracks they like

The other channels I subscribe to have wide variations in views for each video which is usually significantly less than their subscriber base so I don't believe it is specific to your channel. YouTube apparently has some sort of algorithm which determines if your subscribers are notified or not. I always check myself for new videos. Life does tend to get in the way a lot i.e I know a new video is out but it will take a few days before I can relax and view it and then I may occasionally forget and take longer to view it because life gets in the way again! I like all the content of your videos but YouTube subscribers may only like certain videos or there was a specific one that they liked so even if notified they don't watch every video. Engagement with your subscriber base is key and YouTube does not actually help with this much. Other channels I subscribe to use their own separate website, newsletters by email, and posting on other social media channels to engage with their subscribers and ultimately get more video views.

John Russell

The new outro music is neat, but I miss Fran's classic Spongebob homage.

OzRetrocomp

Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I admit to not watching every video, even though I have notifications switched on and receive said notifications without fail. Although it's not just you, Fran ... there are several other creators that I support via Patreon where I pick and choose which videos I watch. That's not to say the videos I don't watch have any less value; rather, it's a combination of being time-poor and having specific interests. No doubt there are plenty of other viewers that watch the videos I skip, and skip the videos I watch.

OzRetrocomp

Congrats for being officialIy a Ag - Button Awardee!always watch all of your videos! And click the view button

Oops, sorry - I keep accidentally hitting enter instead of new line. The type content I really enjoy, and that brought me to your channel the first time, is either repair or retro-technology. I watch the other videos you do, but I enjoy the technical content the most. That is the stuff I do not get anywhere else. One suggestion would be for you to select either less expansive projects or to break them into several chunks. For example, your videos revolving around the Nimo tube and making it work was broken up suitably for my taste. Don't worry if every video is not technical, just please keep doing the technical stuff.

I have found that the recommendations "drift" over time with a tendency for those recommended videos becoming more political and generalized over time. What I do to "reset" it is to just go to my Subscription list and start scrolling through the All Videos list looking for Franlab and other technical stuff, and playing only those for a day or two. Then, magically, the politics and grade school science drops to a small portion of the recommendations.

I guess I am from a totally different audience and represent another wildcard to your subscriber base. Nearly all of the YouTube content I watch I do through the YouTube App on Roku. That app mimics the one on Android and in a browser, with a couple of major differences. First, it has no way to comment on the videos. Second it has no notification system.

I get both kinds of notifications, Patreon and Youtube. It’s far easier to ignore the YT notifications, and I will often dismiss them out of hand (I'm too busy). The Patreon notifications are in the form of email and I'm much more likely to react to them. The teaser is more visible. I guess my first thought would be “Are certain subscribers looking for certain types of content and less interested in other types?” Does YT give you tools for that?

Michael S Wilhelm

I watch all your videos on Patreon but also on YouTube so you get the view credit.

William Alsing

I love that outro much too! Very cool ! Loved your used the of the plate reverb!

I watch almost every one of them. I get notified through Patreon, and I've subscribed on YouTube, but haven't clicked the bell. I don't know why you're not making more with the Youtube advertising, I get about $90 a month and only have 3K subscribers. However my very best performing videos are about unboxing and setup of a couple of video surveillance systems, which isn't the topic of my channel. They've been somewhat popular over time, getting 10x the number of views of my best on on-topic videos. I only seem to get a couple to a few hundred views on my on-topic videos (which are much more popular than what I was doing in the past). I think your content is great, and I loved the halloween video (I need a pair of those gloves)! All. I can think to suggest, is monetize every video. And when you pick up new equipment (of any kind), make an unboxing and setup video--- can't hurt...

hi fran ,im from the uk ,im always behind on the videos due to time differance ,but im subsccirbed and have bell on..so always see them

Richard Vickers

I'm a patreon. From Germany. I watch Your videos. @ Notification button: I have subscribed to many channels. When I activated notifications for one channel, I had to activate it also in general settings, and got tsunamis of notifications So I deactivated that. As long as I view a channel form time to time, I get new videos on my home screen. Under "subscriptions" also appeare videos from channels, I hadn't watched for months. But perhaps it is also a content issue? For example: Jessica Kellgren Fozard vlogs about LGBT and disability subjects. She takes great care to keep her content absolutely family friendly. So no swear words etc. Her LGBT content centers around participation and tolerance. Again, no explicit content. And yet, she has to deal with demonetization and take downs. Perhaps YouTube put you into some obscure content category? I am thinking along the line of DIY electronic assembly of small devices: Perhaps YouTube "thinks" these could also be dangerous? Interestingly, YouTube has no issues with videos with racist and violent content, even when it gets flagged...

Also “something for everyone” as a mix will likely lead to a non-trivial difference between subscriber numbers and viewer numbers for any given video, just due to not all the videos interesting everyone. So they’re “different audiences” in practice. Those of us who watch everything a probably less common (and inherently more likely to be on Patreon too :-) ).

Ewen McNeill

From what I’m hearing on other channels videos it seems like YouTube no longer sends notifications to anyone who didn’t “ring the bell”, so raw subscriber numbers probably gives a poor picture of who gets notified. And unfortunately it’s hard to contact those not being notified :-) Ewen

Ewen McNeill

I’ve been gone for awhile. I love your regular videos I’ve just been struggling with life stuff and depression. I’ve been at odds with my parents since coming out as an atheist and a transgender person. (I’m 38, and they’re 56 and 57) I fell into a bit of alcoholism and have neglected a lot of the things that I love to do including watching your videos. I’m getting back on track now, finding support, working on my self care, cleaning up my depression nest of a room, and getting my workspace organized again.

There are a lot of strategies viewers adopt to get what they want from youtube's feed. I personally have over 900 subscriptions, and, with very careful thumbs up and feedback tuning ("not insterested", etc.), I get a very high quality feed. But even from my favourtie channels (of which this is one), I don't watch all of the videos.

I don't watch every on, but I do watch most. I do seriously wonder about YouTube / google figures. A few years back I had a customer that had an argument with one of their customers over the number of hits they were getting to their website from my customers advertising. There was a discrepancy between the forwarding servers logs and the google analytics. The only conclusion at the time was that ad blockers and anti scripting make the google figures inaccurate. This sort of thing could also mess up YouTube's figures resulting in you not getting credited for all the views. Just a theory. By the way I always get notifications of all your videos. Love the voice over and "credits" music.

Dr Andy Hill

I've noticed the 'views much lower than subscriber count' on other folks' channels, including mine. It's a bit baffling I agree - if you subscribe, why don't you watch ? I get notifications from Patreon, and then a bit later from YouTube for every one of your vids Fran. I watch all of them, I think. I'm not sure what the fix for the low viewing numbers is - your technical vids are engaging - I'm less keen on the Frants though, personally :o) You can check percentage of viewers that are subscribers - it sounded like you hadn't done this ? On a lighter note - the vocals in the outro sound as though they are over-dubbed anew with each vid - this sounds like a thing you would do, because it's fun...

Santa of Macon Loves your content that halloween one was great

Santa Sir Glenn Dr Heald

Hi Fran, thanks for the the awesome work. Your videos do surface in my feed regularly so I don't think you are filtered (at least from my view). I'll share some contrasting numbers from other random videos in my feed: (a) popular minecraft hermicraft video - 591k subs, 16,696 views first day, (b) short 2min animated society of virture clip - 242k subs, 23,652 views first day, (c) branden tenfold monster island recap - 117K subs, 2,049 after 2 days.

Sorry, don't watch every one, but I get to most of the builds etc.

I'm getting all the notifications, and I watch almost all your videos. Hang in there and keep it up. Things will get better!

I thought I'd post my comment here. I am probably close to your age (49) and I've always had an interest in electronics but not much in the way of knowledge or skill. I was into retro videogames for a long time and did a documentary on the Atari 2600. When I was growing up, consumer electronics was bleeding edge and it's sort of a novelty for me to view 70s and 80s electronics as retro rather than bleeding edge. So that's the appeal of the channel for me, a sort of ongoing history lesson and also, just your overall quirky personality. That being said, I don't necessarily watch all the videos, or with those I do watch, I don't necessarily watch them all the way through. I think there's an optimal length for Youtube clips of about 7-9 minutes. If they're really long then they require a much greater time-commitment. There are times when I like to just zone out to one of your videos even if they're 20 minutes plus but there are other times when I skip through. So maybe more aggressive editing would help. Also, one of my favorite videos was the one where you did old school photography. So branching off into other antiquarian stuff besides electronics might be something to try.

Bubo

Subscribed. I'm watching all within a week or so of posting, 99% of the time. I'm also subscribed to 8 bit guy, this old tony, hand tool rescue, paul carlsson, red nile, etc. I get the announcements from youtube around 1/2 to 1/3 of the time that new videos are there. So I often have to just remind myself to doublecheck each channel I watch once a week, subscription be damned.

Fred Niell

Also, I love the funky voiceover during the outro.

Ken McGlothlen

I dunno, Fran. I'm subscribed, and I have the bell set to "All," and I watch most of them (and as far as I know, I'm seeing all the notifcations)—but not all, because life occasionally gets in the way. I'm glad that I also kick in a tiny bit via Patreon, but I understand why you want a more consistent viewership as well. But I don't have any good ideas about how to even that out.

Ken McGlothlen