TechHelp Members Can Now Watch Future Videos Queued for Release

There's no secret that sometimes I record a bunch of videos ahead of time and release them on a schedule, when I have time that is. I do this mostly for YouTube. They reward creators with more views if you release new videos on a regular schedule. Why? I dunno. They just do. It keeps the viewers happy, I suppose. Keeps a constant stream of traffic coming to my channel. So, when I have the time, I'll record 4 or 5 new Fast Tip or TechHelp videos in a row, and release them one per day.

• Click here for Early Access to future queued videos.

In addition to that, I've found that YouTube rewards videos that do well with more views. So if I release a video and within the first hour a lot of people like it (by watching it, liking it, etc.) then YouTube will play that video to even more people throughout the day. More views early on equals more views in total. If few people watch it, YouTube's algorithm assumes people aren't interested in it, and it won't show up as much in rotation.

So, it's to my benefit to release videos at 9am Eastern, since most of my viewers are online between 9am and noon. That's why even if I finish a video at 6pm, it's worth my while to save it and release it the following morning. These are minor things, as the long-term popularity of the video is really what matters, but these little things add up when you release as many videos as I do.

Both on YouTube and here on my site, I have the ability to schedule them for release at a specific date and time. The problem is the Extended Cut videos. I just recorded the Zero Length String video tonight. It has a pretty good Extended Cut. While I can release those at a future date here on my site, YouTube doesn't have that functionality. You can only schedule a public video to be released in the future. Member videos go live right away. So, while the members can see the Extended Cut, they can't watch the public "free" version (which they should watch first) until the scheduled time.

Deep breath.

So... that's why I've decided to allow TechHelp members (Silver, Gold, Platinum) to have the ability to watch videos that are queued up for future release here on my website before their release date. One more benefit for the members. It's like... you're in a time machine... or something. Whoa... Heavy!

I also know a lot of you like to "binge" watch my videos. I can see from the traffic logs that when you sign on, you're likely to stay here for an hour or three and watch a bunch of stuff, then not come back for a week or so. I get it. Life's busy. You don't always have time to learn stuff, and when you do, you want to learn as much stuff as you can. So now you'll have the ability to watch what I've got queued up for the future as well as what's available right now.

I don't always have videos prepared ahead of time. Right now, for example, there's just that one, which I finished a little while ago today. I try to get a couple of days queued up so that I can then focus on other projects (classes, seminars, templates, etc.) and still have my daily YouTube video go out at 9am every day. Keeps the traffic flowing. Keeps the algorithms happy. Feeds the Google machine. Especially on the rare occasions when I'm planning to be out of the office for more than a couple of days, I'll queue up a week's worth of videos so as not to upset the YouTubez.

How do you see these mystical future posts? Well, you won't see them on the home page or the daily email updates, but if you go to the News Feed page (which you can find by clicking on the big bold What's New link on the top of the home page's center column) then you'll see the future items at the very top of the list shaded in pink.

OK. So there you go. Enjoy!

RR

P.S. Not a member? Want to join the rest of us in the future? What are you waiting for? Join today!