YouTubers.

[Orikoru]

They don't pay up front, it's a monthly charge. Worst case, you are £7 down. You know that before you subscribe, it's hardly a big risk.

You know how these things work though, when the content starts to dry up people will stick it out for a while and then realised they've paid over 40 quid for very little.

Problem is there is nothing unique that Golf Mates can offer. Other channels are all doing the same stuff, arguably better than them, and they'll remain free to watch. Why would you pay for the mid-handicap matches with banter when you can watch Tubes & Ange or Fore Brothers? Why would you pay for the lessons off of Chorlton-cum-Hardy's pro when you can watch Danny Maude or Dan Grieve or multiple others? Severely flawed and I'm 99% sure it won't work for them.

 

[Orikoru]

He has changed it now. Increasing views is something they are all aiming to do, that's standard.

It's both gutsy and probably the only option before closing the channel. I don't understand the grumpiness towards him. He is trying to run a business, it's tough. If people don't want to subscribe then don't. I don't see the need to hammer him when it's clear it is not his preferred decision. He has been backed into a corner by YT, he is trying to keep going.

Why would he have to close the channel?? Worst case he just goes back to doing it part-time and getting himself a job - just like it was five years ago!

Not grumpiness at all, just a dose of realism.

 

[timd77]

Tough crowd on here. Bloke starts a business, it does well. He expands, brings a lot of pleasure to people, good promotion of golf and courses that otherwise would not get mentioned. His business model then gets pulled from under him and he has to 'pivot' (as they say in business circles now ). This is a last throw of the dice. If it doesn't work, it will fold. You can't blame him for trying, it is what anyone with a business would do. Is he supposed to just give up without trying this?

No ill will to the chap, he’s had a go, and to be fair he’s had a great run for a few years, lots of us, me included, would snatch your hand off for that.

But, I personally think he’s doing the wrong thing. Unless he has hundreds of extremely loyal and generous subscribers who are prepared to pay for very average content for the rest of his working days, then he needs to either up his game or do something else.

There are other YouTubers getting similar volumes of views, the likes of James Wiltshire and coach lockey. But they both have a much smaller operation, and also boost their income by doing online lessons, playing tournaments etc. From what I can tell, getting 30-50k views on a YouTube video does not a full time business make.

Hope he proves me wrong.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Why would he have to close the channel?? Worst case he just goes back to doing it part-time and getting himself a job - just like it was five years ago!

Not grumpiness at all, just a dose of realism.

Few of these channels are unique, you have to hope that people find you engaging. People like Golfmates because they are like ordinary golfers, their camaraderie seems natural not forced.

Why close? It sounds as though he is doing this full time, there must be costs incurred travelling around. If he can't bring in enough money to cover the costs, he will have to get money from somewhere and that means getting a regular job. Can he do that and keep going with the channel? Will he feel fed up with it? I don't know. Once you have grown something like that, do you want to go backwards to the origin point? Can you, will viewers accept that?

 

[Orikoru]

Few of these channels are unique, you have to hope that people find you engaging. People like Golfmates because they are like ordinary golfers, their camaraderie seems natural not forced.

Why close? It sounds as though he is doing this full time, there must be costs incurred travelling around. If he can't bring in enough money to cover the costs, he will have to get money from somewhere and that means getting a regular job. Can he do that and keep going with the channel? Will he feel fed up with it? I don't know. Once you have grown something like that, do you want to go backwards to the origin point? Can you, will viewers accept that?

I think you're overthinking that part, surely most of the channels we watch are run by people with jobs who do YouTube on the side? I'm sure they make a few quid, just not enough to live off.

Not sure about the 'not forced' part, when I was watching them there was often a gag or two that were clearly set-up and rehearsed.

 

[larmen]

Just looking at some numbers, and with 1/4 of a million subscribers he sits in the same pocket like a lot of other UK YouTubers. The others seem to manage, or at least are not grumpy about numbers in public.

I am still surprised than Dan Hendrickson doesn't seem to progress from 50k, but he has cut down on yeti team a while ago and is still churning on.

 

[Slab]

He has changed it now. Increasing views is something they are all aiming to do, that's standard.

It's both gutsy and probably the only option before closing the channel. I don't understand the grumpiness towards him. He is trying to run a business, it's tough. If people don't want to subscribe then don't. I don't see the need to hammer him when it's clear it is not his preferred decision. He has been backed into a corner by YT, he is trying to keep going.

No grumpiness here, I’m not even a viewer let alone a follower/ subscriber. Maybe watched bits of half a dozen vids over his years

My interest (& surprise) is the choice he’s made and how he reacts to criticism from his viewers (he doesn’t even structure his replies to their comments correctly)
And what business goes to market with their new venture as a 'last chance saloon' option, when primarily they're seeking funds? Its just nuts

 

[Skytot]

I generally only watch Resourceful Coach , Easiest Swing & Golfmates.
2 out of the 3 are full time PGA coaches and have full time jobs , YouTube is just a side hustle. Liam packed his Job in as a Painter & Decorator to pursue his new career in YouTube but it’s now not paying enough.. Like Golfmates but won’t be subscribing

 

[Slab]

Whether intentional or not, most of the (limited) golfmates content I've seen targets an audience of the older generation, higher handicap (male) club golfer. Many of whom still get a kick out of those outdated sally gunnell/douglas bader type puns
Watch them on a tee box, they never shut up, before, during or after a shot is played and when the others don’t fall about laughing at the 'pun' they don’t even realise its because its not actually that funny or its been used for the hundredth time, they assume it must be because it wasn’t heard… so they repeat it !

Every club in every country will have some of these blokes on the course & lots will be among his YT followers… but ask those same blokes to pay 7 bucks a month to listen to that same ‘patter’ and it’s a revenue model on a very shoogly peg

 

[larmen]

On other news, Finch put out the final qualifying video of his quest for the open.

Looking at the shots he was a bit unlucky to finish on +6 and not being even, but to get to -4 to qualify is a long way off. The tripple boogey was unnecessary (always is, right?) and a few puts were so close we would all be unhappy not to make a couple of them.
But, he also came a long way from a couple of years ago where he could have shot +10 or more on a day like that.

 

[evemccc]

You know how these things work though, when the content starts to dry out people will stick it out for a while and then realised they've paid over 40 quid for very little.

Problem is there is nothing unique that Golf Mates can offer. Other channels are all doing the same stuff, arguably better than them, and they'll remain free to watch. Why would you pay for the mid-handicap matches with banter when you can watch Tubes & Ange or Fore Brothers? Why would you pay for the lessons off of Chorlton-cum-Hardy's pro when you can watch Danny Maude or Dan Grieve or multiple others? Severely flawed and I'm 99% sure it won't work for them.

I can’t for the life of me understand why anymore would waste some of their precious predicted 4000 weeks on the planet by watching Tubes, Ange and Jimmy Bullard, or the ForeBros

 

[Orikoru]

I can’t for the life of me understand why anymore would waste some of their precious predicted 4000 weeks on the planet by watching Tubes, Ange and Jimmy Bullard, or the ForeBros

Because it's relatable and enjoyable to watch. Not particularly hard to figure out. If it's not your cup of tea that's up to you, but you do realise not everyone enjoys the exact same things don't you?

 

[timd77]

I can’t for the life of me understand why anymore would waste some of their precious predicted 4000 weeks on the planet by watching Tubes, Ange and Jimmy Bullard, or the ForeBros

I can’t understand why millions watch eastenders 4 times a week (my wife included), but there you go. We enjoy what we enjoy.

 

[evemccc]

Yep - @Orikoru @timd77 that’s why I said “I can’t understand” - ‘I’ being the operative word

I didn’t castigate it in a general statement, saying “it is utter €$¥*”

There’s a difference

 

[Orikoru]

Yep - @Orikoru @timd77 that’s why I said “I can’t understand” - ‘I’ being the operative word

I didn’t castigate it in a general statement, saying “it is utter €$¥*”

There’s a difference

To help you understand.. For me personally, my favourite golf content to watch is:
(A) relatable - I could watch PGA tour and see professionals ripping up courses but I enjoy watching people face the same challenges in golf that I face.
(B) Much as I like Peter Finch, I try and watch his content but one person playing alone is a little boring to me - I like watching people go up against one another - especially in match-play. This is where something like Fore Brothers is good because they're always taking each other on - or playing matches against another channel perhaps. Same with Golf Life who will take on different ex-footballers in matches and whatnot. I like the competitive element.
(C) Ronan from ForeBrothers is genuinely funny in my opinion, he's a big reason I watch their stuff.

 

[evemccc]

To help you understand.. For me personally, my favourite golf content to watch is:
(A) relatable - I could watch PGA tour and see professionals ripping up courses but I enjoy watching people face the same challenges in golf that I face.
(B) Much as I like Peter Finch, I try and watch his content but one person playing alone is a little boring to me - I like watching people go up against one another - especially in match-play. This is where something like Fore Brothers is good because they're always taking each other on - or playing matches against another channel perhaps. Same with Golf Life who will take on different ex-footballers in matches and whatnot. I like the competitive element.
(C) Ronan from ForeBrothers is genuinely funny in my opinion, he's a big reason I watch their stuff.

Good explanation

 

[VVega]

On other news, Finch put out the final qualifying video of his quest for the open.

Looking at the shots he was a bit unlucky to finish on +6 and not being even, but to get to -4 to qualify is a long way off. The tripple boogey was unnecessary (always is, right?) and a few puts were so close we would all be unhappy not to make a couple of them.
But, he also came a long way from a couple of years ago where he could have shot +10 or more on a day like that.

It’s quite unfortunate that despite all of his work to “trust the process” he is still vested in the outcome way too much: “can’t afford to three putt/shortside when it’s in the Open Qualifier”.

He’s much better than he used to be, but needs to get to a different level imo.

 

[RichA]

I used to watch a lot of Golf Mates when I was newly back to golf and really enjoyed it along with other stuff on YouTube. A few other channels' leads have made interesting comments about YouTube insisting on certain presentation styles being used, from the poorly timed adverts to the stupid clickbait titles that bear little relevance to the content.
The problem for me is the boring AI led homogenisation of SM content by the platforms rather than any failure on the part of the content creators.
I'm probably watching 50% less than a year ago and that's mostly down to the direction that YouTube is forcing any channel that's trying to give its employees full time work.

 

[Treeiron]

Really enjoyed Manors golf's new video. James Wilson returning to his childhood club and living in the clubhouse until he beats the course record. Great watch. He did a similar thing with the Shetland islands challenge video too, not returning home until he birdies all 54 holes on the island. The way he narrates them is class. Both worth a watch.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

It’s quite unfortunate that despite all of his work to “trust the process” he is still vested in the outcome way too much: “can’t afford to three putt/shortside when it’s in the Open Qualifier”.

He’s much better than he used to be, but needs to get to a different level imo.

From what he said summarizing his final qualifying experience I am pretty sure that PF now realizes this...he may not have done so before thinking all he needed was to stick with the process and a bit of good luck.