Hello everyone, Optica Exotica here. I'm very touched by this outpouring, I honestly didn't think people would care that I took down my channel.
To make a few things clear: I deleted the channel after much thought and not a little sadness because it simply wasn't making it with the YT algorithm. It was never my intention to gain fame or fortune from the videos, but it was my intention to create a decent little income stream to help support my growing family. It became obvious to me after the first 100 videos I had published--with rather significant invested money, time, and energy--that YT had the channel in either a shadow ban or there just weren't enough optics people to care about quality content on the platform. Viewers definitely weren't finding me, I'd get the same 1500 people tuning in for each video, then videos would attract minimal viewership. I got tired of seeing huge channels rack up even more thousands of subscribers and views for silly reaction videos and halfhearted, poor quality efforts (destruction tests, anyone?) while I struggled to pour my heart and soul into earning a tiny fraction of what even the lower-tier stars made. YT kept changing the rules and tricks about how much they would pay content creators and I could never see an indication that I would break through to a larger audience, no matter how I tried. I started to realize I was the one being gamed. As time wore on it became clear to me that YT is pretty evil--Google purely cares about making the most money off the backs of the smaller content creators, while the large channels roll in the dough and stick to easy programming. YT's content monetization rules require creators to publish at least every six months or YT would pocket all profits from channels, thereby robbing creators, an unpublished policy they said could change at any time without warning. I received an average of only $125 per month for the channel, far less than I have lost on the depreciation of equipment and the opportunity costs of skill and time. Assessing the field, I saw the algorithm push increasingly slick infotainment on other channels rather than funny, illuminating, or honest work. I also decided that it was time for me to take my face off of YT, as this content is not in line with my current work and I am finding success on another path.
You know the poker game adage--"look around the table and if you can't spot the chump then the chump's you." I have been the chump.
I did everything I could to help the channel grow and honor your wishes--editing videos with love and care, tagging and positioning videos within the algorithm, expanding coverage to different optics, outside reviews, camera-facing reviews, a foray into birding, a foray into hunting, nothing made any difference. I would buy binoculars for $2000, spend two weeks making videos, sell the binoculars onwards at a loss after taxes and fees were taken into account, after doing extensive reviews on them, and the published videos would make $36 bucks. No videos on the channel ever reached 100,000 views. Back of the napkin estimates indicate that YT made far more money than I ever did off of advertising and positioning the channel as a specialty feed. You see, the problem with the sport optics media space is that there just aren't enough people out there in the world to really obsess over this content. Unlike other spaces like knife reviews or the photography space, it's not quite a way of life to many. People would hit the channel and quit it after getting the information they would need to secure a quality purchase for their uses.
My last hope, and the reason I kept the channel active for the last two years, was because I hoped to perhaps work as a spokesperson or reviewer for Leica or Swarovski. Perhaps a higher-up at one of those companies would see these videos and send an invitation to work for them or collaborate on a review or even a witty series. It turns out they make such a quality product--and their clientele is so well read--that this probably would never happen.
Yes, my reviews were not always scientific, sometimes there would be errors. I'm not an engineer, I'm more a test pilot in my style and personality. Yes, I pride myself on giving a colorful and kooky style of reviews! I look up to the greats who have done it before like Kai Wong with the heyday of the Digital Rev photography channel, also since deleted. Channels like those resemble more an earlier throwback to the heyday of YT when the energy was different, the humor more carefree, and the content not so calculated and polished and corporate as it is today. The micrphone falls over, people laugh, they get paint on a lens, but the show goes on and thousands tune in, like early radio or the early internet. I am sad I missed those times, perhaps if I had started the channel ten years ago instead of January 2020 my path would have been different. So be it, it's not for me to complain or worry any longer. I truly hope you all are doing well and that you can find other quality content to support. I respect you all and wish you well in your wildlife viewing pleasure.
So long, and thanks for all the fish,
Ethan
. Was that what helped you buy an MHG ?
