What If The Real Metric Is Joy Not Views

Get vidIQ Boost for an exclusive price! https://vidiq.com/podcast

Want a 1 on 1 coach? https://vidiq.ink/theboost1on1

Join our Discord! https://www.vidiq.com/discord

Watch the video: https://youtu.be/_kUOrWhNynw

We sit down with competitive eater and food travel creator Joel Hansen to talk about what it really takes to grow a YouTube channel when the views come slowly. We dig into the work, the risks, and the mindset behind building something sustainable without chasing clout or external validation. 
• Joel’s channel focus on culture and travel through food 
• science and fitness background plus the path into competitive eating 
• early-stage reality of slow growth and staying consistent 
• what full-time YouTube work actually looks like behind a 20-minute video 
• health and safety risks from extreme eating plus why he tells viewers not to copy it 
• choosing restaurant partners with care rather than chasing free food 
• monetisation through AdSense, sponsors, merch, lives, prizes and memberships 
• memberships as support more than gated perks 
• common creator misconceptions and why people quit even after early wins 
• responsibility and loss of anonymity that comes with a big audience 
• title and thumbnail process for variable real-time content 
• using comments for trends and recurring feedback 
• why long-form videos can go viral months later and lift the whole channel 
feel free to hit that subscribe button 

Transcript

Patience Beats Instant Gratification

SPEAKER_01 0:00

It actually took me six months to get 100 subscribers, which by some people's standards, especially nowadays, because people look for instant uh gratification, instant glorification of eating like 20 some pounds of ice cream in a sitting. You could touch my stomach and feel it was cold. Your self-worth comes from within, doesn't come from a little mana likes on a photo, I'll put it that way. You have to like be convicted and you have to want to share something that, like, regardless of the external outcome, you're still gonna find joy and satisfaction through.

Meet Joel Hansen And His Channel

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Hey, welcome back to the only podcast that's always super hungry. I'm Travis, and I'm here with an incredibly special guest, Joel Hansen, who has an incredible channel. He's been on YouTube for over eight years, over one million subscribers, over, I mean, what is it like 400 million views? Something ridiculous like that. My dude is in it, and I love to talk to people who eat because I am an eater myself. Joel, welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

Hey, thanks so much. I mean, uh, what can I say? I've been eating every day since I was born, believe it or not. You know, I must be good at it, right? I better be.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Well, if you're new here, we have a podcast where we talk about uh growing your YouTube channels, but we do it in a different way. We talk to different creators and see what their journeys have been. If you're listening to the audio only podcast, there will be a link in the show notes that will take you to the YouTube channel with all the links to Joel's information. So, Joel, tell us a little bit about what your channel is today. Just kind of give us a 30,000-foot view for people who don't know, and then we'll we'll get into like how you got started. So, what's your channel about specifically?

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Sure. So ultimately, my food channel is about food. So, now where do I go with that? A lot of people associate my content with competitive eating, with overly large portions and food challenges and buffets. Um, kind of similar, like to a man versus food style. And while definitely some of it is food challenges and eating contests and all that stuff, uh, really what my channel is really about is sharing the beauty of the world and the different cultures through food. Maybe I do so by eating a lot of the food, but that just means you get to learn more about the culture, right? Um, so really just kind of showing off the world, showing the amazing, you know, uh uniqueness of, you know, again, different cultures, communities, and a different place around the world through food, because who doesn't like food, right? So it's a very tasty way to learn.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

I love

Science Background And Model Vs Food

SPEAKER_00 2:29

that. Um, tell us a little bit about what you were doing before you started recording on YouTube. Like what was your life? What were you up to?

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Yeah, um, so I mean, I have multiple degrees and a very science-heavy background, and it was kind of in healthcare, it was in a little bit in the service industry, and then like I said, just university being a full-time student for bachelor's, master's, etc. Um, so that was kind of my full time. And during my master's, I just occasionally started uh casually doing some YouTube videos just for fun, just totally for fun. I just saw a couple videos online myself and was kind of like, that's kind of cool. I kind of want to try that. And uh, so um it was like a food challenge video, which inspired me. So I went and tried like a food challenge, like eating a big burger, and I recorded it and I put it on YouTube, and somehow, you know, six years of full-time YouTube later, here we are.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

What's interesting is uh it says in your bio that you were a fitness, uh fitness influencer, fitness model. I I I think this is the most interesting part of your content. You don't if you're listening to audio podcast, you would never know this. You're like, oh, competitive eater is probably uh you know a chunky guy. No, not at all. This is very interesting, and and it's a different twist on what most people will think when they think of competitive eating. Um, talk to us about that aspect because it is unusual.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Yeah, so I definitely am a big uh advocate for fitness and healthy lifestyle. Um, it was actually kind of after I was really into bodybuilding and powerlifting, and after a number of really serious injuries which impeded that is kind of where I kind of was like, I think looking for some sort of competition. And I kind of got into competitive eating because I was used to eating a lot of food to support my exercise, so it just kind of worked. Um, but yeah, I carry uh I was a uh a fitness model uh also through my university years, and uh so if you like look at my Instagram, it's uh the name is uh model versus food, uh, which was a nickname I was coined again, kind of like the man versus food, but model versus food. I uh let's just say I do more eating than do modeling nowadays, but I still do some acting work uh for like commercials and uh introductory uh videos for companies and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

So when you were doing these first couple of videos, were you just you were just kind of uh mimicking what you saw on YouTube, or did you have like a plan, or how how did those first couple of videos uh come to life?

SPEAKER_01 4:59

You know, that's a great question. I definitely don't think I was mimicking per se, but I felt like I was following, I think, like the instructions. So the first burger uh video I did was like you said, like a food challenge, right? So if I saw you know uh videos from five different creators, right? Kind of doing like step one, introduction, step two, you have the food, step three, you eat, step four, you close out. I just kind of inadvertently followed that because I didn't know any better. That's just kind of what like this is what it looks like you do, and I just kind of like, okay, so I will do that. So it was not there definitely wasn't a lot of thought into it. There definitely was no research, or there definitely was no uh overarching plan or structure, there was no uh schedule or um or scripting. It was just kind of like this is how I've seen it done. Just like if you see somebody put on sunscreen on your arm and someone gives you the sunscreen, you just kind of follow suit, rub it in, you know.

Six Months For 100 Subscribers

SPEAKER_00 6:10

So when you did this, uh, were the videos doing well at all? I guess, well, it's a very relative uh uh you know term, but let's say were you getting like a couple thousand views on a video for the first couple ones, or did it take a while? Tell us about that process.

SPEAKER_01 6:24

No, no, definitely, no, definitely did not get what a lot of people consider instant success. Uh, it actually took me six months to get 100 subscribers, um, which by which by some people's standards, especially nowadays, because people look for instant uh gratification, instant glorification. And admittingly, with certain apps like TikTok and stuff with the short form, you can have one video and kind of pop off. But YouTube, let's say eight years ago, uh, this is well before the short content, et cetera, it still was not in those stages. Like that just really wasn't generally a thing. Um, so no, I mean, the videos weren't getting views um per se. And uh, you know, you're again to find success, right? But the thing is, I was doing it because I enjoyed it, right? I wasn't out there to get rich and famous. I never thought this would ever be a full-time thing. I didn't think this would amount to anything significant. It was just like, you know, maybe in your spare time you like to read a book. Uh, maybe in your spare time you like to play the guitar. It was just kind of like in my spare time, it was just a hobby I picked up. And because I I think like, I guess, you know, found some joy or some entertainment in doing it. Uh, success wasn't measured by an external metric like views.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

I think that's probably the more healthy way of looking at uh content creation, especially early on. What changed? When did it change? When did things start to go? Oh, okay, this actually could be something.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

The funny thing is, I never had that realization. Um, it was it just kind of started to snowball. Um, so you know, increasingly through like it did, I think I released my first video, let's say like January of 2018, for an example. And by like a year, a year and a half later, it was like I was getting some views and I had some traffic. Like I said, it did take uh you know six months to get 100 subscribers. Um, but you know, by maybe a year and a half later, mid-2019, I probably had maybe like 20,000, maybe 19,000, somewhere around there. And um so at that point, when I released a video, that's when you could maybe be like, you know, even just start to gauge some sort of like external success. But I still never thought anything of it. It wasn't a career, it was never something I contemplated. And um then uh 2020 happened, uh things were shut down, uh, especially where I was living. There was no jobs, I was finished school, and um, but the one thing I could do was go to places, other places, and do some videos. So I just kind of started making videos because guess what? I couldn't do it, I couldn't work, I couldn't do anything else, but I could do one of my hobbies. So I continued with that hobby, and then about six months to a year later, so very late, let's say 2021 or early 20, we'll say very, we'll say very sorry, we'll say very late 2020. My apologies. I kind of was like, hmm, I guess I'm like kind of doing this full time, like I'm traveling all the time and I'm spending you know countless hours a week editing and doing all this content, like I guess I'm acting, like I'm kind of somehow doing this full time, and then from there I just kind of rolled with

The Real Work Behind Eating Videos

SPEAKER_01 9:59

it.

SPEAKER_00 9:59

What did that look like from a monetary standpoint? Because obviously, um, you know, again, like you said in 2020, like some people didn't have jobs or a lot of things going on, uh, but a lot of YouTube content creators blew up during that time because so many people were watching YouTube. Uh, at what point did you start seeing money coming in that was like, oh, I actually can kind of sustain myself somewhat, even if it wasn't like a lot, but enough that you could be like, you know, I can kind of do this for a while.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

Oof, that is a great question. Because yes, similarly as you just mentioned, like uh early 2020, I did have, let's say went from maybe 30,000 to 50,000. Uh, you know, in the span of, I don't know, let's say three, three or four months, right? Let's sort of March through June or July or something. I'll be honest, like being completely honest, I don't remember a certain point where I was like monetarily like, oh, this looks pretty good. Um, but I imagine I I really don't remember, but I imagine at that time, I imagine by the end of 2020, it probably was starting to look like at least like, you know, okay, I have been doing this full time, and it looks like I could support this with it. Um, but I'll be honest, I don't remember, I don't remember a specific marker or point where I was like, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

Yeah, yeah. And that's fine. I mean, I think it it comes over time. Sometimes it's drips and draps until you start to go, well, wait a minute. I I just realized that for the last couple months I've been making like two, three, four thousand dollars uh thread sense. And that's not chunk change. That's actually not too bad, especially if you're just eating, right? Like it's it's not too bad. It's not like you're buying something you wouldn't normally do anyway.

SPEAKER_01 11:37

Yeah, I don't think I would put it that way. I think you're making it sound a lot easier than it is to compare to the city. All right, tell me about it. Um I'll put it this way: like eating large portions and pushing yourself to the extremes would be the same as like running um marathons or very, very like high um high caliber, like ultra marathons. Like the thought of eating is fun, but eating in a competition, right? Just like maybe the thought of let's say going for a nice casual stroll at the beach is fun. But the the the thought of running, you know, what 20x miles or whatever in a marathon, you know, say it's the same as let's say trying to eat like 10 pounds of food. It's really not enjoyable and it's very taxing on the body. So some of my videos, oh yeah, I mean, if I get to go to a buffet and leisurely eat and enjoy, oh yeah, that's fun. That's go that you know, that's enjoyable. Still a lot of work, you know, to make the video itself probably takes three hours recording, uh, probably another three, four hours of editing, plus an hour of titles and tags. So, I mean, you're talking minimum eight to ten hours into every single video. Um, and that's excluding, you know, if you feel horrible afterwards or any aftermath or physical whatever. So, you know, it's uh let's just say, even though eating, I think, on in on paper sounds fun, it's still can be a little it's a job sometimes, we'll put it that way.

SPEAKER_00 13:13

To your to your point, like I'm looking back at some of your older videos, and this would have probably been around the time we're talking about. There's one one instance where you're uh eating like uh looks like a pizza that's uh six and a half pounds or something like that, and seven thousand calories. This uh as someone who you know prides themselves on being uh you know in shape, or at the very least, in general, you like to to you know let people know that they should be healthy. This

Injuries Choking Risks And Recovery

SPEAKER_00 13:35

is obviously very unhealthy. So I have to assume that at some point some of this stuff started creating health challenges for you at the very least. I mean, when you're younger, you probably can can overcome that, but like there had to have been a moment where something was like, okay, I I maybe ate the wrong thing or too much of something. Have you had that happen?

SPEAKER_01 13:53

Short story, yes. Um, long story is not a specific like health happening per se, but there is times with uh eating which sounds crazy and the training and stuff involved. I have torn like my abdominal muscles, um, I have like rib injuries and all these things. So um, and plus, you know, if you almost die half a half a dozen times from choking and stuff, like you know, it can definitely make you second guess some of it, but to be honest, I mean, I just kept going. I never really thought much of it. Again, just like if you were again probably play football, you know, you probably get some injuries, probably knocked around sometimes. You kind of do what you can to heal them up and continue on. But that being said, um, yes, when I in my earlier days, in my quote unquote younger days, my younger years, I did some things back then I could not imagine now. Some of the things I tried to eat or did eat, and just the way I would push myself, I wouldn't let myself quit. I don't know when to quit. That's uh uh a pro and a con of mine. Um, so yeah, let's just say there's definitely some things I've done back in the day I would not want to do again. Um, I've eaten like a 20-pound uh like prime rib meal, which I felt that living in my stomach for three days. I've eaten like 20 some pounds of ice cream in the sitting. You could feel you could you could touch my stomach and feel it was cold. It's crazy. Like it's just it was just permeating through my abdomen. Like, yeah, doing some crazy stuff. Would not recommend it. Hence why the descriptor in all my videos, I say, don't do what I do, and I really mean it.

SPEAKER_00 15:37

Like legitimately, do not do what you

Restaurant Offers And Choosing Partners

SPEAKER_00 15:40

do. Do you was there a point, or is it the is there even a point now where you're able to go into a restaurant and be like, look, I'm gonna do this thing. It's probably gonna be good for your restaurant. Can you just comp me? Is that part of like the deal with some of these restaurants? And also, some restaurants don't want to be filmed, but like uh, what was that process like, especially early on before you had a following?

SPEAKER_01 16:00

So, I mean, I I'm I definitely have, let's put it this way. I have many uh offers from different restaurants to have comped meals, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. The thing is, though, do I always take them? The answer is no. Because again, I'm just not like I, you know, I don't just go do this for free food per se, right? There's lots of restaurants want to give you free food. Um, but still, like I put like time and planning into um the videos, you know, what I think will be interesting. Um, you know, if the offering is interesting. But yeah, I mean, like some places are just like, you know, you get you get you get you get many offers. Uh, I think again, it's just like strategically if you take them or not. And uh just you know, just as like if it's um a clothing brand trying to give you clothes or something to wear, it's like you gotta also, you know, is this something you want to represent? And or how do you want to represent it? And you know, kind of a like, but admittingly, like I, you know, I am at a point where there's definitely a point where I would work with anybody or a lot more. Now I like to work with restaurants um, you know, whom are genuinely like excited and passionate about the food and like not somebody that's just like you know, throwing garbage out just to make money, like you know, somewhere which like you know cares and wants to actually serve people and is proud of what they do. I think that's always so cool. Like a mom and pop shop, you know?

SPEAKER_00 17:32

Yeah, those

AdSense Sponsors Merch And Memberships

SPEAKER_00 17:33

are the best. What it so what's the monetization strategy behind a channel like yours? Is it just AdSense or is there like a sponsorship? And if so, like what would sponsorships even be like on a channel like yours?

SPEAKER_01 17:43

So I mean I've done many like integrations uh by different companies. I mean, I've done them for everything from like you know, online healthcare to um different foods, supplements, I don't know, like online shopping and clothing and menswear. So I mean there's all kinds of sponsorships. Um, obviously, uh, through my videos, there's times where if I do a contest, or sometimes you're gonna eat something and there could be a monetary reward if you can do it. Uh definitely AdSense. I mean, when you do your lives, there's nothing wrong with like the gifts and super chats and uh super stickers, those are always you know much appreciated. Of course, you do like standard things like memberships for YouTube as well. Selling merch doesn't hurt. Um, yeah, but I mean that's kind of the a lot of it, you know? A lot of it, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:37

So a lot of creators when they're up and coming, they want to do things like memberships, but they don't. I feel like there's this um misconception that they feel like they don't have the value, they don't bring the value to a viewer. Like, why would someone pay me to to do what I do already? Um, how what is your thought process behind that? Like for membership stuff for you, what is someone purchasing into and how do you look at that particular scenario?

SPEAKER_01 19:00

So it's that's a great question. And I actually am kind of of the line that buying a membership from somebody is just saying, I support you. I personally I do know one or two creators whom have done so like where they set it up where like if you want to get a question answered in a live stream, you have to be a member. And if that's how you raised your audience and that's what your audience is used to, then they're cool with it. But with the besides that, it like if someone buys my membership, I'm not gonna lie, you're just you're just there, you just want to support me. Uh, and you get a cool badge. If I'm doing the same for another creator, I'm just doing the same thing. It's just like, hey, instead of giving you the $10 super chat, I'm gonna buy your $10 membership and just wear wear the the cool badge. Um, because while some channels, like I said, they do offer um, you know, whether some some just behind the scenes stuff or whatever, I think a lot of it is like you're buying their membership to support them, you know, and feel good about that. So if you feel good, if you want to support them anyway, just another great way to do so.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

Yeah, I agree. Maybe creators are overthinking this part of it. And um, to your point, like, yeah, of course you can have different levels and have different biasing stuff, but to your point, um, especially if you have like a lower price one, quite frankly, if someone, if you like someone and and they're you're a YouTuber, it's not uh uncommon to say, like, hey, you know, 99 cents super chat, or in this particular case, um, you know, uh whatever it is, uh dollar uh membership.

Self Worth Comes From Within

SPEAKER_00 20:44

Um, what aspects of content creation that now that you've been doing this for a while, uh, do you think people misunderstand when they're first starting out? Like they go into it thinking one thing, and now you've been doing it for so long. Like, what is the reality of some of those things?

SPEAKER_01 20:58

Great question, and the answer is yes. I think people enter in with so many misconceptions, especially in the last couple years, let's say the last five years. So I'll use an example. I have a friend, and this friend spent about I cannot say it's a huge buy-in, but it's enough. He spent, let's say, a thousand dollars, twelve hundred dollars on equipment right away. And his plan was, I'm gonna start YouTube videos, uh, I'm gonna get famous, I'm gonna quit my job and travel the world. That was his plan. And I said, okay, cool. And at this point, I was still an early creator, maybe, maybe somewhere between 20 and 40,000 subscribers. And um, again, it took me six months to get 100 subscribers, right? I was just doing it because I like to do it. I did the process, I've got a reward through the process, not just the end goal, not just the external reward, but the internal reward. Anyway, so he made two videos, and his second video popped off. It got thousands of views, and within two videos, he hit over a thousand subscribers. He was gonna soon qualify for monetization. So, you know, and I'm like, Dan, that's cool, man. Good job. And he's like pretty excited. He made a third video, and I don't even think he made a fourth video. And he said, Man, I give up. It's too much work. Because he was in it for the wrong reasons. He was in it for this external, like, I'm gonna get external validation, I'm gonna pop off, be famous. And even though he actually had an amazing start, two videos over a thousand subscribers. We're talking in a matter of what, a week or two? That's crazy. And it just wasn't enough. So he gave up. And I mean, like I said, it's like you have to be, if you're gonna like become a YouTuber, you're gonna get in this, you have to do it. I think for like a real internal like reason because you want to, because you want to share something with the world. I don't think it matters, like whether it's you want to share your voice. Maybe you're a singer, maybe you want to share an opinion about books. You have to like be you have to be like convicted and you have to want to share something that like regardless of the external outcome, you're still gonna find joy and satisfaction through. And I think just so many creators and so many people nowadays just like want to they think of like do this, be famous, get clout, get external validation, blah blah blah. And I'm like, it's the same reason why, like, I went to an amazing beach the other day, and this girl was taking the same photo for like 40 minutes, like trying to get the perfect photo for the gram. It's like your self-worth comes from within, doesn't come from a little man that likes on a photo, I'll put it that way.

SPEAKER_00 24:09

That's crazy. That's that's uh you're dropping some knowledge there. I love that. What about um you know, someone would maybe watch this podcast episode and go, okay, this guy Joel has made it. Like he he put in the grind, I respect it. He's doing well, he's got a million subscribers, he's got it made. Everything's easy for him. He can say all this, and that's great. Of course, he does he's out of touch because now he's made it. What is the reality of being in a position where you you've quote made it? Um again, there's a lot of people listening that are that haven't gotten to a thousand subscribers or or even more, and they just assume some things. Tell us what the truth is.

SPEAKER_01 24:44

So I would think one thing that I think is assumed and people don't realize is like I said, just the amount of work which goes into this, right? So they get to see a 20-minute completed video of me eating at a restaurant. They don't see the hours of traveling to the restaurant, they don't see again the about four or three or four hours at the restaurant to make the 20-minute video, and then they don't see the three or four hours of editing plus the hour of titles, tags, etc., right? So again, easily eight to ten hours of direct work. Again, that's excluding if you have to travel. That's excluding if you have to arrange these things with a restaurant, logistics, etc. Um, I and then excluding that, when I was not traveling, I used to work 70 hours a week, literally about 10 hours, seven days a week. It was to a point where like when I went to visit my parents, right? As like uh, you know, visit them on like Christmas or holiday, they were just they just knew I had to like they just assumed I had to work. So they just like basically like leave me in my leave me in the room to work because I had to, right? These were the things I had to do to build my channel, to build my community. These are the things that um, you know, I didn't take a holiday for three or four years before, and then like finally it came to the point where I was kind of like, and then you know, you train yourself to like take a couple a couple days off was like hard, you know. So there's just like there's there's there's so much that goes that goes into it, and then if you and there's a lot of people that they do, they want to become noticed and become a public figure and stuff. I think one thing which people don't also realize is like it's actually really nice to have a nominity sometimes. Like I go to the market or I go to a store or walking on the beach today, and like people know you, right? People come up and say hi to me all the time, and I'm very thankful for all my the amazing supporters I have. But I'm just saying at the same time, like you're out on a date with somebody for the first time, and you have a couple people come up and go, Oh my god, oh my god, it it can kind of freak some people out. They're like, Who are you? You know, because because you know, like I don't introduce myself to people I don't know as hi, I'm a YouTuber with a million plus subscribers. Like, you don't do that, right? Like, you know, again, I'm a very like humble down-to-earth person. So, you know, I think um there just also comes with just a lot of responsibility when you do become a public figure. Again, not just for like what you stand for, again, who you work with. Um, you know, but you do have to be very also careful, like what you share with the world. Um, you have to protect your family and your friends, you have to protect your relationships. Uh, so just like just things that, you know, again, the average person wouldn't have to worry about. Um, there is a lot you you kind of have to consider, again, in and out of YouTube. Like, with, you know, there's kind of like, you know, there comes a lot of responsibility with follow with a following, I guess is a good way to put it.

SPEAKER_00 28:03

Um,

Titles Thumbnails Feedback And Viral Timing

SPEAKER_00 28:04

let's talk about packaging of your videos. So the title, thumbnail, that sort of thing. When you're about to go, I so let's assume that you know you're going to specific place, need a specific thing. How early in the process do you know the title and thumbnail of that video? And what's that process look like?

SPEAKER_01 28:19

I would say there's only five percent of the time that I would have an idea for the title before uh and or during the video. Otherwise, it would come kind of after andor possibly throughout in a way. Like there's a time I went to a buffet and I got kicked out. Well, instantly you can tell that the title is gonna be about me getting kicked out. Now, when I go when I go to the buffet and I don't get kicked out, right? But maybe it was unlimited king crab and I just happen to eat a lot of it. Well, hey, maybe there's also an inclination to the title as well. Um, but as far as like um pit pre-picking titles exactly, I don't do that beforehand because I'm doing a you gotta realize I'm doing like a live variable uh activity, eating. And what's gonna happen during that experience, I don't know. But through through it, it might direct towards the title and or the thumbnail. You know, maybe if you, you know, in a video you get or you get, you know, one of the workers to come up and be like, you're gonna eat that? You know what I mean? Again, it's like it's uh it's a variable throughout that you that will add to it, but rarely before. Yeah, rarely before.

SPEAKER_00 29:42

That that's uh that's really interesting because uh depending on it, and I think you just you made a good point. It's that unlike a lot of other content people make, your stuff happens in the moment and you actually don't know necessarily what's going to happen. And that sometimes can lead to the packaging. And the packaging really is more about setting an expectation, getting into the video, and then uh, you know, making meeting that expect meeting or exceeding that expectation. What kind of things, what kind of things do you take from your community, the the comments and stuff that are left on videos that help you in your content creation, or or their metrics you look at that go, okay, maybe I should do this different. What have you learned from that?

SPEAKER_01 30:16

Yeah, so through the years, I think some of the most important things that I did learn from my audience is like types of food that are, for example, appealing and attractive and types of videos. So, for example, I know like an eating challenge video will outperform, you know, generally outperform like a buffet video. Um, however, if it's a really dang cool buffet regarding like let's say seafood, it's like you're gonna do better than a buffet not regard, you know, involving seafood. So I think gener I think what I so what was most important to me to learn from my followers is general trends. And then also like you need to you can't like you get thousands of comments, right? You definitely can't dive into every single one, but you need to be aware and cognizant of trends. So I'm always one for criticism, constructive criticism. I very much enjoy receiving feedback, both positive and negative. But you gotta um again look for like trends, look for recurring themes, right? So if I make a couple videos and everybody says, uh, you know, the audio is just not that great anymore, or what's going on with your audio? I better start, no pun intended, listening. Like, what's going on here, right? Now, if one person says that, you're like, it's something wrong, but nobody else says it. It's probably just someone's own computer. Um, so I think like the biggest thing was trends and direction. Um, and then through the years, again, learning things, uh, you know, again, like let's say starting off, like, you know, sometimes uh like if you did get a new piece of equipment, like if the microphone is being too responsive, or maybe they don't like a certain light or a certain angle, or something's out of focus. Um, so I think like again, just like like that kind of feedback is super helpful for what I do. Um, and then and then you can also get requests, right? If some people are like, we want sushi, we want sushi, okay. I'll put that in my back pocket. Hey, if I have the opportunity to do some sushi, I'll do it, you know. So yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:34

Your your most uh your two most popular videos are you kind of uh having an owner in like the title and in the thumbnail here. When you were making these videos, did you know they would do well? Was there something about them, or was it something that happened after the fact you're like, okay, now I understand why those videos did well? Because for so many creators, they don't understand sometimes why a video does well. Uh, have you now kind of uh figured out maybe at post-mortem, like why these did well?

SPEAKER_01 33:01

The short answer is I mean, I know why they kind of did well because the way they're marketed and it is quite attractive to the a lot of general audience, but but I think all all or most of my videos that went like that really kind of popped off and went quote unquote like viral per se, with the exception of one or two. It happened like quite a bit after the fact. So it's like, you know, let's say I released a video in March, and then it'd be like randomly in June or July, all of a sudden it has it's gained a couple million views and a couple of like traction. So, so with the exception of again a couple, um it's just kind of, I mean, it was a pretty popular video to start out, but then it starts trending for some reason and being suggested. And just the reason why it did good at the start, right? Let's say it still gets 500,000 views at the start. That's to me, that's pretty dang good, right? So I so it did well, it appealed to a lot of people. Um, and then so if for whatever reason it starts being shown and suggested to other people, you can assume that it's likely going to have a similar click-through rate, et cetera, et cetera. And that's kind of what has happened.

SPEAKER_00 34:17

I'm curious. So, in the life of this one, it has like 9 million views, and the other one has 5 million, you're saying that they did well at first, and then they kind of that they slowed down, or were they just consistently big, and then all of a sudden, just randomly they just start popping off. Like, tell us the experience of that, what you see, because some people never experience that.

SPEAKER_01 34:35

So the first, I mean you have it in front of you. The first one is like the eight-year-old, all eight-year-old owner checks barbecue.

SPEAKER_00 34:41

What's the second one? That's the first one, and the second one is owner uh bets $500. I can't eat uh 48 uh inches of lobster.

SPEAKER_01 34:48

Okay, so so that one that is one of the ones that I thought that started strong and just kept trending.

SPEAKER_00 34:54

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 34:56

That one now the the the the barbecue on the owner one again. That one, like let's say got maybe two or three thousand, max four or five hundred thousand within the span of six to nine months. Okay and then it and then it just kind of popped off, and all of a sudden it went to like, oh wow, this video has a it got a it's not up at two million views, and then you see it bump up again to your next top of these wow, it is three, not as four, not as five, not as six, not a seven, you know. So um that one again, like it started to still off good with success, but there was definitely a period of I don't want to call it like dormancy, but like, you know, it did well, and then I feel kind of uh stabilized for a while. It was probably still trending up, of course, but not an exuberant manner, and then you know, exponentially uh it gets got a kick, you know, gained a million views, and then gained so much and so on, and kind of continued on.

SPEAKER_00 35:55

That's what's fascinating about YouTube, because unlike um like a shorts or reels on Instagram, which usually happens within a week and then it's pretty much over, uh, YouTube many weeks or months, or sometimes years later, videos can pop off, which is really cool. And one of the things that it does is it brings new people to not just that video, but to your channel, which then sometimes boosts other videos on your channel. Have you seen that happen too, where like one big video pops off and then all of a sudden some smaller videos start to start to get some traction?

SPEAKER_01 36:23

Absolutely. So every single time every YouTube creator, at least of long form, can't say the short form, but at least the long form that I've known many, it's happened to myself many times. Every time you have a video quote unquote pop off, go viral, etc., it is going to get a give you a boost in your channel. It is going to because not only that one video, but then it's going to start suggesting all your other videos to these people and even to more people, and there's a likelihood they're at least going to click on one or two of them, right? So if you have one million new people see one new video and each of them click on one more, that's instead of one million new views, that's two million new views, right? And those that goes on and on and on. So yeah, every time you get one video that does really well, whether that's right away or later on after it's been out for a while, you'll see a boost in your channel uh of everything subscribers, views, and and this is through many creators.

Sustainable Content Plans And Closing

SPEAKER_00 37:23

When you um, I mean, when you look at yourself and where you are right now, uh you're still doing uh food challenges and stuff, which are taxing on the body. At some point, your body's probably gonna say, you know what, enough is enough. I I don't think I can do this anymore. Even if your your your spirit is willing, your body might not be, right? What would be like, what would you want to do at that point as a as a creator? Would you still want to create? Would you want to do something else? Like, do you have a plan? Are you just kind of flying by the seat of your pants? I'm really curious about this.

SPEAKER_01 37:53

Yeah, no, so uh great, you know, you're you're 100% right in all kinds of regards, right? It's very taxing on the body, it's not gonna last forever. I'm already there, man. I've already been like, you know, we've already slowed the content a bit. I'm not trying to eat things which are 20 pounds anymore. Um, I had some serious health issues this year, which also kind of changed it, not related to eating. Um, but yeah, no, continuing on with like making, doing content which is slightly easier on myself. Still enjoyable, still involves eating, still what a lot of people like and love. Um, but also, you know, including some things which again are a little like even more just enjoyable for myself, you know, like whether it's going to uh some crazy buffet, you know, and or being able to show that off. And because like I said, the the main purpose of my channel is really to show the beauty of nature of uh like culture and food, um, you know, through like you know, show the world, right? Whether it's again like the nature of the certain place which is uh impacting, and or you know, the reason why these people eat these food, or whether it's a cultural reason, you know, like certain cultures eat with their hands, certain cultures eat with chopsticks, such cult cultures eat with forks and knives, right? There's it's like these interesting, amazing things, which you know, how do we all connect so well? Is again through food. It's something we all have to do. And um, so as long as like I feel is able to do that and you know provide entertainment and um you know help people uh through my content. That's I find it rewarding, and that's kind of what I'll continue to do.

SPEAKER_00 39:20

Yeah, and there are other creators like Mark Waynes does this uh very well, like he he does it, uh he doesn't do like food challenges, but he'll like go around the world and eat different things, and culturally, you're right. Like we all know our culture through food. So many cultures are steeped in food, like that's how you know the culture is the food. So I think there's there's like a never-ending supply of content for you for sure, even if it is an extreme eating, which is really cool because you can then uh kind of share cultures, as you're saying, which is uh which is great. When you look uh if you looked at a content creator who's up and coming and they want to do, and I know for the most part, we try to give um advice for people who are doing everything, but I'm really curious if someone was a a content creator kind of in your niche, what are the things that you've learned over these years that they need to be aware of, uh, the things they need to avoid and the things they need to double down on if they were to start in 2026?

SPEAKER_01 40:12

I would say, first off, again, make sure it's something you enjoy and you're in it for the right reasons. You're not in this to get fame, you're not in this to get popularity, you're not in the insist to get external glorification, gratification, etc. If you are in it because you enjoy, it's basically entertaining, let's be honest. If you enjoy entertaining andor you know, sharing knowledge or however you want to look at it, then do it and stick to it. Because there is actually people out there to consume all types of content. There are people out there that watch people um like videos of people chewing on hairbrushes. I don't understand it. I will never watch that video, but guess what? There's people out there's people out there with millions of followers because they want to watch somebody chew on a hairbrush. But then there's people out there that, you know, I got friend that has that has millions of subscribers. He just drinks like he chugs stuff. He'll chug sodas and juices and whatever, right? And then there's people that want to watch you eat, right? Maybe it's they want to eat something, they want to watch you eat something spicy, or they want to watch you eat, you know, like Mark Wien's just different foods of the world. Maybe it's just pizza, right? Um, the uh Barstool, you know, one bite pizza reviews that get, you know, how many millions of views on that? Just from he goes to a restaurant and it one takes one bite of a pizza. There's someone out there to consume all types of content. The problem is though, is you need to make sure that you're in it for the right reasons and you want to do it. If you enjoy it, you get gratification, satisfaction from it, then you'll also be able to stick with it, right? Like I said, just like a hobby. If you like to sit home and play guitar, read books, you don't get paid to do that if it's just in your home. You do it because you enjoy it. So if you enjoy it, you'll enjoy the process, not just the end goal, then do the do YouTube. Uh do this content. If you are not in that realm and you just want to do it for cloud and social, don't do it. Don't do it. I'm I don't mean to be like whatever, but I think you're just in it for the wrong reasons. At least, especially when it comes to long form. Short form really does allow people, this sounds, I mean this politely, but you can be a lot less engaging, a lot less interesting, and a lot less devoted into short form. Because instead of then investing into a 20, 30, 40, 50 minute video, you're investing into a 50-second clip, which is read by AI, some fake voice. Like, if that's what you're into, sure. Uh, and you could get followers from it, are they, but it's just you gotta find you find you find rewarding. So that's kind of what I'd say. It says like if you're in it and you really like it, you want to do it, you're and you're like cool to do it and expect never to get money and fame and clout, do it. If that's what you're looking for, you're probably better off to look somewhere else for the time invested.

SPEAKER_00 43:18

You know what's funny, Joel, is this literally follows uh an interview I had just uh two days ago. Now, when this episode comes out, it'll probably already be live. Um, with a content creator who had four million subscribers and burned himself out, and he even said that one of the reasons he took a break is because he couldn't find himself. He wasn't doing it for the right reasons, and everything you just said are literally the reasons he stopped. Now imagine you have four million subscribers, you're getting millions of views per video, and you have set yourself up to just stop, and he's still young because of exactly what you said. If you start at the the base, your foundation of doing something you love, something that you're doing for a passion, and something that you think you can do for a long time, you're not gonna have that situation. Whereas if you just do it because you're trying to do all the things you just said, you could have the greatest success on YouTube and still burn out and and and quit, which would be terrible. Joel Hansen, the man. You you said it all, and I I can't appreciate I can't tell you how much I appreciate it, especially that last bit, because I think it's un it's under talked about in YouTube uh content creation. It's so incredibly important. If you're listening to the audio podcast, I highly suggest click on the link that'll take you to the YouTube video here, and then watch Joel as he says, because you can see in his face, he's not just saying this to say it, he's saying it because it's true. And he and I love talking to creators in this way. And if you're on the YouTube channel, of course, you can click his link, check out his channel, tell him that you saw him here, and maybe he'll eat something for you. You never know. Appreciate your time, Joel. Is there anything that you're gonna be working on that you're really excited about that people should know about?

SPEAKER_01 44:52

Oh man, I got so much cool stuff coming up. I'm working with uh Harley Davidson in Texas for the 4th of July. That'll be a lot of fun. If you're in around DFW area, stop on by the um uh Harley Davidson of Texas. Man, I have some really cool things on the east coast of Canada later this summer. Uh, I'm getting a whole bunch of different countries this year. Um, I would say just follow on the social media, be travel, uh, you know, check out my travels, and uh hope to cross paths with all of you. It happens a lot, man, and many lovely followers today. So maybe you'll be the next ones tomorrow.

SPEAKER_00 45:30

That would be amazing. And if you want to see more, uh, like I said, all the links in the description. And if you're new here, feel free to hit that subscribe button. We do content just like this all the time. And as a matter of fact, here's a video right here you can watch. I'll see y'all in the next one.