TJ Episode 24: Social Not Cutting the Mustard (and What Comes Next)
Some of what I’m about to say may be a little controversial, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, and it feels like the right moment to be honest about it. I’ve been making woodturning content for years now, and I’m incredibly grateful that people continue to watch it. I enjoy the creative side of filming, I enjoy sharing techniques, and I enjoy bringing people into the workshop through the camera as well as in person.
However, the truth is that producing long-form YouTube videos properly takes a huge amount of time. The filming, planning, editing, and polishing can easily swallow days at a time, and that’s before you even consider the pressure of consistency. Over the years, I’ve found myself having to make a choice between spending that time on video production, or spending it doing what I’m actually here to do, which is teaching woodturning in the workshop and developing the school.
The other uncomfortable truth is that YouTube simply doesn’t pay enough to justify that level of effort. The platform rewards content that plays to the algorithm, and the reality is that the style of videos that often perform best aren’t the sort of videos I want to make. I’m not interested in chasing trends, manufacturing drama, or twisting the craft into something it isn’t just to get a few more views.
So I’m not going to chase the algorithm.
What I am going to do is focus my energy on making content that is genuinely useful, genuinely practical, and genuinely aligned with the way I teach. That’s why I’ve been filming a new series of short videos called Bite-Size Workshop. These are focused, no-nonsense workshop videos that deal with one idea at a time. Sometimes it’s a quick technique, sometimes it’s a small detail that makes a big difference, and sometimes it’s simply a reminder of the basics that we all need to revisit.
They’re designed to help rather than gain huge viral views on social media.
And in many ways, they’re a much better fit for the Woodturning School because they let me keep sharing teaching content without sacrificing weeks of workshop time. They also reflect the reality of how people learn. Woodturning is a slow skill. It takes repetition, patience, and time at the lathe. The turning that matters most happens in the workshop, not in a comments section.
So as we move into the new year, the direction is simple. I’m going to keep making work I’m proud of, but I’m going to do it on my terms. That means focusing on the school, focusing on the students, and focusing on creating the kind of content that supports real learning rather than feeding a system that demands constant output.
As always, thank you for watching, and thank you for supporting the school. If you thikn you would enjoy the Bite-Size Workshop videos, there are plenty more coming.
Take care,
Martin