The future of YouTube for small channels

Author

Botham Hawkins
October 19, 2025

Youtube is changing. What worked 5 years, 2 years ago doesn’t now. Why? It’s an ever evolving machine.

Old vlogging was “watch my life.”
New vlogging is “watch my life through the lens of a shared obsession.”

That shift is the difference between views and silence.

Nobody cares about your errands. They care about the part of your life that overlaps with theirs. Pick the obsession. Build inside it. Win.

Examples for you:

Fitness

  • Not “Leg Day” → “Beginner squat form that stopped my knee pain in 2 weeks”

  • Not “Gym Vlog” → “The 25 minute hotel room workout I use on trips”

Cooking at home

  • Not “What I Eat In A Day” → “$8 grocery haul to 3 dinners for two”

  • Not “Meal Prep” → “One pan chicken that becomes tacos, salad, and soup”

Money

  • Not “Budget With Me” → “How I cut my food spend from 450 to 220 this month”

  • Not “Side Hustle Update” → “I listed 7 things I never use and made 186 in 48 hours”

Productivity

  • Not “Day in My Life” → “The 30 minute block that cleared my inbox and to-do pile”

  • Not “Study With Me” → “My 3 run Pomodoro that got me through 60 pages in an hour”

Parenting

  • Not “Weekend With The Kids” → “Solo bedtime for two toddlers without chaos, step by step”

  • Not “Back to School Vlog” → “School lunches in 6 minutes using one base and three swaps”

Your life is context. The obsession is the content.

How to find your MAGIC X

  • What do you talk about without trying?

  • What are you already doing every week?

  • What could you rant about for 30 minutes and still have more?

Pick one. That’s your lane.

Format that works right now

  • 30 to 60 minutes. Playable on TV.

  • One clear topic per video.

  • Tell the story. Show your take. Be honest.

  • Light edit. Keep the dead air that builds connection.

Five prompts to film this week

  1. “I changed my mind about ____ and here is why”

  2. “My setup for ____ and what I’d fix first”

  3. “Beginner mistakes I made in ____ and how I’d avoid them”

  4. “What I’m testing in ____ this month”

  5. “If I had to start over in ____ today”


Stop documenting everything. Document the thing. The algorithm will find your people if you give it a clear signal and commit over a long period of time.

Me


PS. The Youtube Bootcamp is coming, just putting the finishing touches. 3rd November is when we kick off. More details to come next week.