My Year on YouTube and Setting New Goals for 2021
One positive thing that has come out of 2020 has been my YouTube Channel. It started off as a place to get tips on how to create video content for virtual teaching and my initial goal was to host my class content on YouTube. It grew to me developing a weekly series of videos called #CoffeeWithDrA. The challenge to create entertaining but informative videos has helped me in the classroom. Reading over my semester evaluation, students had so much to say about what they called “professional videos”. I look at my initial videos now and cringe, Which I guess is a sign of growth. I’ll be talking about the positive feedback about my videos that I received from my students in a series of videos that I am working on about virtual teaching, that I will release in mid-January.
Reflection
I am big believer in the power of reflection. And, as an economist, I love looking at data. So, I thought I would share some data on the YouTube channel and talk about my goals for the future. It’s New Year’s Eve after all.
So here it goes:
First video I made was actually uploaded on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. It was a 24 second clip of color grading. I was just learning how to color grade my videos and thought I would share it. I miss that background
I am really enjoying creating videos for my courses. I need to pick a font, maybe I’ll ask for your votes in the next video?! #MacroWithDrA pic.twitter.com/XVRZAwh6LD
— Dr. Abdullah Al Bahrani (@DrAAlBahrani) June 18, 2020
My first YouTube video was posted on June 19th 2020. In it I asked my audience of 7 subscribers (3 of which were my other accounts) to help me pick a font for my course content The video was viewed 226 times.
The Channel in Numbers
Since June 19th, I have uploaded 82 videos, 71 if which are public that is roughly 2.9 videos per week. These were combination of videos for #MacroWithDrA course and #CoffeeWithDrA weekly(ish) episodes. It was a lot of work, and a lot of fun. Some data for us to compare for next year, when I reflect on 2021. Between 6/19/2020 and 12/30/2020
Total subscriber gain +759
Videos were viewed 31,240
Average view time 2:19
Total watch time 1,206.48 Hours
Total Shares 816
On average viewers watched 16.16% of each video
Top Videos
Most shared video- Understanding the Minimum Wage Policy- Shared 112 times
Most watched- Things to Consider When Debating Omani Minimum Wage Laws- Watched for 103 hours
Most liked- Omani Unemployment and Data- liked 94 times
Most viewed- A New Economic Opportunity in Oman viewed 2,625 times
Longest view duration and most comments - How Dr. Brandon Sheridan Became an Economist 8:40 seconds and 187 comments
Data by Age of Viewers
I get more views from the 55-64 years range, but the 18–24-year age group are more engaged when they do watch.
Data by Country
Thank you to my Omani viewers, not only do you watch the videos, but you also share them!
What’s Next?
I plan to continue this project and see where it takes me. I started off all over the place, and experimenting which is totally fine for a new channel. I am honing in on a better idea of what to do now. For season 2, I would like the focus of the channel to be on “Discussions around Economics and Financial Literacy”. After all it’s my comparative advantage!
I would like to have more conversations with economic educators that are innovating in the classroom. The Pandemic and shift in the educational landscape, has highlighted that these voices are needed to be heard. We need to hear more from those that have specialized and are recognized for their teaching.
I am working with Jeni Houser from the Ei District to define my niche. She’s a fan of creating target audience personas. That’s my homework!
I also want to continue to improve the video and audio quality, and increase engagement. I hope to hit 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time by June 1 2021.
If you watched any of the videos, shared them, or subscribed, thank you for being part of this journey. It would be great to know what you enjoyed!
Next season kicks off on January 8th at 9am eastern. See you there!