I started my YouTube channel back in 2006 shortly after YouTube launched. Back then it was a place to post my commercial work and give me a place where I could share links to potential clients. Yep I've had my YouTube channel for twenty years. Which is an insane thing to write in a sentence.
Since it started it has evolved over the years and followed me through a lot of professional and personal transformations. For awhile it lay dormant and I started posting clips of business related events in my history, like my Hall of Fame acceptance speech, or some of my appearances on news - like that time I was on The Rock with Brian Williams. You scroll back through the old videos and you are likely to see a lot of history and background. It even lived through a short period when I was creating talking car ads with a friend of mine. Sadly, that didn't last after he passed away from cancer.
And then I started playing Eve Online. And it wasn't long before I started creating videos based on the game. At first these were just quick, goofy, and low-effort videos. And then "Dumb Ways to Die" happened and it blew up rather significantly. With over 1.3 million views and growing, that video represented a new chapter in the evolution of the channel. But, even so, I still wasn't taking it seriously. It remained a side effort to other more pressing concerns. Every once in awhile I would start a new podcast, or create something to support my CSM campaigns, or whatever came to mind at the time.
And then JUST came around and suddenly there was an engine that I was involved with that actually paid creators to create. Back then I was knee deep in the board game development and looking for a new job out here in the real world. But I started creating new videos for rewards and that started to be fun again. And some of those videos started to get some attention. But, more importantly, I really enjoyed making them.
I don't know why it never occurred to me to make YouTube my focus. But a few months ago my wonderful wife said something to the effect of, "You're really good at this, you should think about making something out of it." And that seed started growing in my head. And almost immediately the signs started showing up, as they often do when you start down a path. CrazyKinux and I started talking about starting a podcast together. And then CCP asked me to help create those introduction videos for the AT. All the pieces started to fall into place.
So I made the decision to put all my efforts into creating something special out of this long gestating thing. And turn it into an engine to fire my creativity and passions, not just for Eve Online, but eventually for everything.
And once I decide to do something I tend to put my entire heart and soul into it. For the past two weeks I've been publishing shorts almost every single day. I've started actually recording my game play almost every day. I've launched a new weekly series called "Pirates Corner" and next week the second episode of our podcast "The Safe Spot" will launch. Which will soon be available on Spotify and other podcast platforms. And I have much more planned for the coming weeks and months.
And soon I'm going to be expanding the channel into other areas as well. I'd like to start sharing more about my art and my life on the channel as well.
I'm excited and I'm looking forward to sharing the journey with you. And I sincerely appreciate your support, as always.
Onward and Upward.