Right now I’m spending 30+ hours per week growing my film analysis Youtube channel.
And I gotta say, after being a writing coach for 9+ years, it’s teaching me all sorts of wild lessons about how growth actually happens online for writers, video creators, and creatives.
For instance, a few weeks ago a 5-month old video of mine blew up and got 40,000 views in two days.
The statistics on this video in the first 24 hours were abysmal. It had a 1.2% click-through-rate (horrible for Youtube), and a horrific average view duration.
After a few days, I accepted that this video on No Country For Old Men was a bomb and that that was all she wrote.
Then, over time, the video started getting pockets of views. The metrics steadily improved as Youtube found the actual audience for this video until it blew up in early February.
This video was a complete labor of love for me. I’ve loved No Country For Old Men since I first saw it 12 years ago, and when I made my video about it I trusted my artistic spirit.
I gave it some gravitas by reciting bible verses over montages of my favorite shots, before diving into analysis on how those verses connected to the story. Normally I just go straight into my analysis, but with this video I let it breathe. It ended up taking on the ambiance of the actual movie—reflecting its tone—which felt really cool and unique as I made it.
The point is, my love for the subject matter bled into the art serendipitously.
And over time people found it, loved it, and now it’s the most viewed video on my channel.
It turns out that maybe the best growth hack is just creating what you love.
Recently I’ve noticed my Filmalysis Substack has started to grow by 7-8 new subscribers per day on some days.👇
It’s funny because I don’t do ANY of the growth hacks I typically espoused in this newsletter in 2024-2025.
I don’t write Notes.
I don’t comment on people’s work.
I don’t try to do any guest posts on other film newsletters.
I just write my analysis, publish it, and then people find it via Google, the Substack network, and Youtube.
I’m just making stuff I love and letting the universe take care of the rest.
I’m growing by about 60 new subscribers per month right now, and in the summer I plan to start a film analysis group where we can hang out and discuss our favorite films together. It sounds awesome and I can’t wait!
Now, understand something.. On Youtube I do care about getting views on my videos. I try to make good thumbnails, and stick to formulas that increase retention.
It’s not that I abandon growth tactics, but I do try to marry them with genuine love for my art. I try to see where they fit together without feeling fake. That’s the key.
But my Substack growth has been a complete surprise to me. It’s like my articles are just getting picked up by Google and shown to people on Substack organically.
When I juxtapose my film analysis videos with the courses, newsletters, and products I made as a writing coach, the difference in quality is night and day.
I can do more work because I love it.
The work itself is better because I love film.
I genuinely enjoy reading comments because we’re all film geeks together.
It’s not that I hated being a writing coach… it just got a bit stale after doing it full-time for 8 years.
So I’ve not only seen serendipitous growth, I’ve also seen enjoyment injected into the entire creative process when I make stuff I love.
This isn’t groundbreaking information, but it’s nice to reiterate it from time to time.
In my journey growing this passion project, I’ve been surprised at the surprises waiting around every corner. My Substack articles getting picked up by Google, for example. Or this video I made months ago suddenly going viral. It’s like the universe can tell I’m having fun, and is opening doors to aid me in my journey.
This is perhaps the juiciest fruit of making what you love—the unexpected viral moments, or uptick in new readers from fortuitous sources, or shares from folks you respect that introduce you to a totally new audience overnight.
I feel these huge serendipitous moments only happen when you love what you make.
There’s a famous proverb that says, "Happiness is like a butterfly, the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder."
This has been my experience growing my film analysis audience on Youtube and Substack so far.
I don’t know… maybe the best ‘growth hack’ is making what you love.
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