SamSuka
kaiielle
kaiielle

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Keepin' Up With KL ✦ Oct-Dec 2023 + 2024 Chats!

Added 2024-01-06 02:42:49 +0000 UTC

Well heelloooo! Gosh, it's been a while since I've written one of these! Not only am I covering Oct-Dec, but I'm also going to talk about the channel's history so far (the past two years) and then chat about some of my plans for 2024!

Before we dive in, I want to say a big welcome in to all the new patrons that joined since the last one of these was shared (beginning of September 💀) and so far this month! Keepin' Up With KL is my monthly newsletter that I write at the start of every month... ideally LOL. This is where I share insights and provide updates for what's to come. I always want to be as open and transparent as possible and many folks here find value in these newsletters and being involved in the behind-the-scenes of the channel. It also provides some different content here to sprinkle in between everything else and I really enjoy writing these and sharing! Thank you so much for being here!

This newsletter is going to be VERY LONG, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED. 🥳 Get yourself a drink and some snacks (or a meal) and let's chat!

October Numbers

Obviously October was a much slower month than normal because of Ella's passing and my trip to Vegas for TwitchCon. All that I uploaded were my four Ahsoka videos to the channel. That said, to still get just over 80,000 views in the month with nearly 82% of them happening on videos uploaded prior to October is a huge accomplishment in my eyes. I am really pleased that my channel has reached a point where I don't have to be so afraid of personal life getting in the way of uploads. Sometimes shit happens!

November Numbers

November was a really great month and felt good to have coming off of October. My reaction to The Matrix and my collab reaction with Popcorn in Bed to Hook ended up being two good choices to upload back-to-back and both videos have performed well past the channel's average views per video. I'm also pleased with every other upload for the month. It was a good one with some good films and TV watched!

December Numbers

December STRESSED ME OUT with the copyright issues that I was dealing with on the What If...? series - by far the biggest struggle I've had since The Dark Knight Trilogy back in spring 2022. Anyway, the month didn't go exactly as I had planned since that copyright battle took up so much of my time and work. But looking at the numbers, the channel went back to its "norm" this month and it's still a month that I can't complain about overall! It's a Wonderful Life definitely carried in December - without that, it would have been a month similar to October. Definitely a great choice and happy people voted for that!

The symbols beside each data point indicate if the figures are up or down relative to the previous month. If there is an equal sign, there is no change.

* This data point tells me how much of a video that a viewer watched. Because my videos are usually longer, I like my percentage to be around 30%.

- - -

Before we talk about the 2023 year specifically, I want to share some data that covers both years on the channel!

Observations:

Let's Talk Ad Revenue

I don't think many YouTube creators are overly transparent about ad revenue and how much it fluctuates and how seasonal it can be. I'm personally really open about sharing this, I don't think it should be hidden or taboo!

This graph below represents the Canadian Dollar amount that I earned per 1,000 monetized views, which is 55% of what advertisers pay Google. If I have a copyright claim on a video then I don't earn anything from views while that's active. This has occurred with a number of videos on the channel in the past two years and especially recently. 🫠

Note that these figures are for my channel only. PLEASE do not assume this applies to everyone. Ad revenue fluctuates based on: where the creator lives, where the viewers live, what category is chosen for the videos, and more. This is also ad revenue only. YouTube Premium revenue, memberships, SuperChats, etc. are not reflected in this.

Observations:

A Takeaway:

I've learned in the past two years that you can't make assumptions that more views = more revenue. I've seen this on my own channel with Revenge of the Sith earning only slightly more revenue than other top reactions that have over 400,000 views less. Why? With my ROTS reaction, most people only watch a few mins of the reaction (one or two scenes). With the others, they watched a lot more of the reaction! That makes a massive difference to earnings.

And now.. let's chat 2023!!

Most-Viewed 2023 Reactions In 2023:

Most-Viewed 2022 Reactions In 2023:

2023 Reactions With The Most New Subs:

2023 Reactions That Had The Most Subs Click Unsubscribe 😂

Do we want to assume that people clicked unsub as soon as I finished Endgame because they had no desire to continue onto Phase 4 with me? 😅

2023 Reactions With The Highest Average Percentage Viewed:

This list really surprises me. Clerks and Mallrats both being on here though truly shows the love View Askew fans have for the franchise. So I love that! I certainly wasn't expecting The Cabin in the Woods to be the highest. And it's actually second on the channel overall, just behind The Avengers [Part 1] from 2022.

2023 Reactions With The Most Likes 👍:

2023 Reactions With The Most Dislikes 👎:

2023 Most Viewed YouTube Playlists:

Where Did People Watch From In 2023?

And Which Cities Did The Most Views Come From In 2023?

How Old Was My Audience in 2023?

Fun Fact: Women watch more of a video than men do (33.8% vs. men's 31.6%), but men make up a whopping 92% of my audience! 💪

I wanted to be super creative with some of these stats for the year! YouTube gives us a TON of analytical data on our content and it's fun to go through sometimes!

Overall, I am so pleased with how 2023 went and I'm really happy with the overall performance. At this point it's fair to say that my channel is a slow-and-steady grower, which I'm not mad about! Obviously it'd be super cool to pop off and grow really fast, but I have to remember how manageable growth feels, and that feels really good and not so stressful.

⭐ Is there anything that stands out to you about these stats? Let me know! ⭐

And now it's time to chat about 2024! Ooooh boy, I'm excited! I really wanted to come into this year knowing roughly when I'm going to watch certain movies, when I'd want poll winners to go out, could I fit in any TV series, what smaller movie series do I want to fit in, and more!

I've been planning for a lil' while and here are some things to look forward to this year:

1) I'll be caught up on the MCU sometime in Summer 2024, along with the View Askewniverse!

2) All of X-Men will be watched!

3) Two Movie Series: The Hunger Games and Indiana Jones

4) October Theme: Ghostbusters 👻

5) November Theme: Band of Brothers 🪖

6) Christmas Releases: Miracle on 34th Street Double Feature 😇

7) And more...

I may end up using my KL's Choice slots for the last two on this list. I also want to use my choice slots to continue through some of the series that I still need to finish.

8) And an idea that I'm strongly considering... but haven't committed to

I'm really excited to hear what you think of all this! Anything you're looking forward to more than others? Let me know!

- - -

Changes in 2024 to Ads on Videos:

Last year I talked with other reactors about our approach to mid-roll ads. My background was on Twitch, where mid-roll ads are basically the DEVIL and loathed by all viewers because they miss some of the live stream when they happen. My approach was always to have as few mid-rolls as possible, while also trying to earn enough to make this sustainable as a full-time job. I've always deleted over half of the mid-rolls that YouTube would automatically place on each video.

But I realized that I'm leaving a lot of ad revenue on the table by doing this. Most reactors are not like me 😂 and just go with YouTube's default placements. Maybe most YouTube creators do this, period. My first concern when hearing this was "Do you ever get negative comments about it?" Apparently no... that is a very rare occurrence. Reactors doing this longer than me have said the amount of ads does not make any noticeable difference on their viewership and other engagement. It also seems like having more ads in a video can result in YouTube pushing it out more, theoretically resulting in more views.

I've decided to start doing this in 2024. It's safe to assume that I can double my ad revenue just by making this change. And this would be a huge step to finally being able to get consistent editing help with my videos. If it does help in pushing the videos out more too, than that will impact channel performance and grow the community!

If you are someone who really hates ads, then I strongly encourage any of the following:

And yes, there's ad blockers as an option of course. I'm still not sure how ad blockers affect things. I assume I don't earn revenue, but maybe I still do in some way? 🤷‍♀️ I try not to worry about that because I understand people using them.

Finally, thank you so much for your support through viewing ads or doing any of the above. It helps tremendously! ❤️

I won't be making any significant changes to Patreon this year. I feel like this space is running like a well-oiled machine and I'm really happy with how things are going here! Y'all make Patreon a really lovely platform to post on and I thank you so much for that!

One thing that I want to start doing more of is using the Community feature, especially since a lot of you don't use Discord. I have already been using it for quick updates and such, but I want to talk to you all more. 😅

Last year I started doing monthly member events but then they quickly fizzled out. If anyone is wondering if they'll come back... at this time I can't commit to doing it on a monthly basis and I'm so sorry! But I do want to have a few of those this year and I'll announce them when I've got them planned!

Insiders Tiers

When Better Call Saul ends in a few months, I'm going to throw up the first ever POLL for folks in these tiers on what series to watch next. I have many that have been suggested through my form and some others that are on my own list. As always, if you have suggestions and ideas, please get them submitted.

Naturally the Marvel shows are gonna take us right through all of 2024 and beyond. 😂 So if you're here for that, it's gonna be a good time! 😄

And Your Regular Patreon Reminders (Mostly for New Members)

I stepped away from streaming on Twitch, what I thought was for good at the time. I tried recorded + edited gameplay for YouTube and while I really enjoyed doing that, I severely underestimated how much time it would take. Unfortunately, I just didn't have that capacity unless I pulled back on the reaction channel and Patreon, which wasn't an option for me.

With Ella passing in October and then attending TwitchCon right after that, it definitely made me start missing it and I have been a lot. I've been actively chatting a lot more in people's streams in the last three months too and I'm feeling so ready to come back.

Now that multistreaming is allowed, I can be live on both my Twitch channel and my kale plays YouTube channel at the same time. I will be multistreaming the playthroughs of heavy narrative games, allowing people to choose the platform they want to watch through. For folks who despise watching Twitch VODs, this will be a win because they'll all be on YouTube!

There will likely be Twitch-only streams too. In order to not clutter the YouTube gaming channel, any stream that isn't part of a main playthrough will be just on Twitch. Streams with friends... if I decide to have a Coral Island stream... if I do any special event streams... that sort of thing. 

⭐ My first stream back will be during the evening of Tuesday, January 16! ⭐

This is going to be a TEST STREAM to iron out any kinks in the multistreaming, since I've never done that before. I also just want my first stream back to be a catch-up stream. I kind of disappeared off Twitch without doing a formal "goodbye" stream, so I'm sure there's a few people out there that wondered where the hell I went. 😂 Not everyone joins Discord or looks at other socials. 

Here's the game plan, in order:

Is there a schedule?

Not right away. I want to see what comes comfortably to start. Thinking of twice a week at 3-4 hours each stream, but which days and times I'm not sure yet. It'll most likely be evenings. But I'm open to also logging in early on a free Sunday and going for 6-7 hours too. I just need to see how it goes.

I'll announce streams in Discord, on socials, in the Patreon Community Chat, and if you're subbed to the kale plays channel, any upcoming streams will show up there with a countdown too. I'm super excited, but NERVOUS to get back into this! 🥳 I hope to see some of you there for it!

And we're finally here at the end of this newsletter! WE MADE IT! These are optional questions, but if you're up for answering...

- - -

Your kind comments every day here and on the channel are like fuel for me to keep this going. I'm so excited to have a super awesome 2024 with you. It's just the beginning. Let's do the thing! Thank you so much for choosing to financially support what I do and appreciate you so much!

Keepin' Up With KL ✦ Oct-Dec 2023 + 2024 Chats!

Comments

Sorry for not responding right away. I wanted to make sure I replied to as much of what you said as possible! Re: MCU in the theatres. I don't think I will, just because I've watched EVERYTHING in reaction format, including the non-MCU shows as Patreon Exclusives. I'm not opposed to seeing movies in the theatres as I did it with Barbie and Oppenheimer. But MCU I'd like to stick to reactions. So once I'm caught up then I'll just wait until the new stuff is released digitally! You'll love the Hitchcock poll I just put up then! And Band of Brothers is going to be a good time! Plenty of time to watch it for yourself before I start reacting to them or we can watch it together! I'm super curious on who your ship is. 👀 OOPS PRESSED ENTER TOO SOON. Legend of Zelda! I'll maybe get into them one day. Congrats on your son graudating this year! I'm sure you'll figure out all the time management and finances stuff. So cool to hear you were able to tackle some debt last year, that's a great feeling! I'm also sorry for the loss of your sister. Losing family is so hard. Spending time with loved ones is always a good goal and focus. I adore having you in this community and thank you so much for being here!

kaiielle

2024-01-08 22:23:49 +0000 UTC

I loved the fun fact about women watching more of a video than men while also being such a minority in your audience 😂 This was a fun and interesting read. I enjoy seeing the stats. Solid plan for 2024. Do you know yet if you will switch to watching the MCU movies on the big screen once you are caught up? Just curious where your head might be with that or maybe you haven’t even thought about it 🤷‍♀️😆 Love the idea of Deadpool rewatch alongs on YouTube and can’t wait, mostly for the other X-Men stuff, but Deadpool too, I guess 😜 Outside of Marvel, I am excited for more older movies prior to the 70’s and for the Miracle on 34th Street double feature next Christmas. I am guessing this is the original / remake comparison idea that was mentioned in comments. Good stuff. I am digging all of the plans for the holiday oriented months! I have not seen Band of Brothers, but have always been curious to watch it. I know it has a lot of familiar faces in it and is held in high regard as a series. I don’t really get into music artists and albums like I used to. This past year or two I have been building up different YouTube playlists of fan edits for various characters and franchises I enjoy. I have been focusing on building up my X-Men, Loki, & 12 Monkeys edits playlists most recently and even jumped back into reading some fanfic for a particular ship I enjoy. Much more on that when the time comes 🤐😜😁 When it comes to gaming, I go in spurts, but have never been a consistent “gamer” I always liked watching my friends play and to be their navigator and remember where power ups and extra men were, etc… The Legend of Zelda has always been my favorite game world and probably what I have played the most outside of rapid click puzzle strategy pc games like Plants vs Zombies or Insane Aquarium. I do enjoy a long game of Roller Coaster Tycoon from time to time and have been playing American McGee’s Alice and Alice: Madness Returns for PS3 for years now 😆 I will finish them one day 💪 When I was a kid my Mom and I had an overnight lay over in a Greyhound Bus station on our way to visit my older sister and I played, the then new, 1991 arcade version of Street Fighter 2 all night long and had a blast! It is still my favorite fighting game! Not really a goal, more of a hope it all works out sooner rather than later in 2024 and have me switching shifts at work. I have been on 3rd shift for almost 5 years now and with our son turning 18 and graduating this year I need to be on his and my husband’s day shift schedules to spend more time together. Our goal last year was to get to a better financial position for me to take the shift pay cut this year, so far, so good! We were able to pay down debt all last year. I have already put in my notice and will hopefully being training some one to take my position soon. In March of 2023 my older sister passed away from a life long battle of various cancers. Pancreatic is what it finally took for her body to be overcome. It has been a rough year…So, I guess, living life as best I can and spending time with my loved ones is the only goal I have this year. It will be a pleasure to continue enjoying my free time in pleasant online communities like this one, a day shift life doesn’t leave as much personal free time, but I will be happy and grateful for what I get! Happy 2024, let’s make it Marvelous 😉😁

CheshireKat528

2024-01-08 11:48:26 +0000 UTC

Thanks for reading through! Glad you enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to the The Hunger Games too!

kaiielle

2024-01-06 20:22:24 +0000 UTC

That’s quite the detailed update! Oddly enjoyable to read through. 😂 Those Hunger Games reactions should be a treat — I enjoyed those films far more than I imagined I would prior to seeing them myself. 👍🏼

William

2024-01-06 15:51:32 +0000 UTC

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