That number has probably gone up by the time this blog goes out, because I write these days in advance.
In the last few months, WordPress has gone through some truly bizarre changes and legal battles.
It’s emotional, controversial and opinions run hot on lots of different sides of the aisle.
I posted a video to YouTube talking about how WordPress is facing some massive challenges and it might be time to evaluate our relationship with the platform.
That and how Matt Mullenweg is a complete homagong (family insult term).
In the past, I’ve had a sixth sense when a video idea will do well.
Juicy controversial topics like this tend to do very well.
I didn’t write a script (which I usually do).
I didn’t use a teleprompter (which I usually do).
I didn’t test the thumbnail or title (which I usually do).
And yet this video is currently our best performing video in a long time.
There’s even a “buzz/humm” sound from the mic because I didn’t get the settings right.
Published beats perfect.
The topic, the juicy draw of the content, the controversial nature of the drama.
That get’s views.
Which isn’t to say that your content should be all drama and legal based stuff.
Personally, I HATE producing this kind of content.
And everyone claims they hate it too. And that they never watch it.
But according to our YouTube analytics – people actually LOVE drama.
The tension comes when you have to compromise between “I’ll create something that people want to watch” with “I’ll create something that I want to produce”.
My goal for this video was to reach a wide audience of people who don’t know me. Introduce them to my channel, give my current audience some personal insights and – I do try I swear – provide some actual useful value at the end of the video.
You can get views and clicks and traffic.
Content doesn’t have to be dry and take ages and lots of effort.
And no, before you say “well of course it gets lots of views Mike, you have around 40,000 subscribers.”
Most of the views are coming from new viewers:
Create content that people want to read, watch, connect with. That’s how you get traffic.
