 It's a glass of wine evening type of day, a little crazy, a little rough, a little tattered around the edges. You know what I mean? But today's vlog is all about finding your voice on YouTube, even if you have a tough day. Even if you have a tough day, you've got to fight for it. This is where I started two and a half years ago. Welcome to the vlog. Number one, vlog is short for video blog. As you know, may know or may not know, YouTube launched in 2005. And since then, YouTubers and vloggers have shown up all over the place. And really, I see it as an advancement. If you've been watching for any length of time, I think you'll notice a difference. First of all, an attempt at a beard. Don't let me do that again. Don't let me do that again. And trying to find my voice on YouTube. Several things, like confidence, talking to a camera every single day, even in public when you're not sure who's watching. Basically, this is an old, we may have to stop and talk for a second. This is an old alleyway. It's an old alley. Like there used to be dumpsters here and trash and parking and bean bag, flower pots. And like they've transformed it into epicness. There's lights. It's amazing. That is part of the daily vlog experience and it took, it took folks four to six months. I'll tell you this. I remember distinctly after six months of the daily vlog every single day that I remembered it clicked in my brain, oh, it's okay. It's okay to talk to a camera in public. Guess what? Because I'm talking to you in their YouTube. You know, I love talking to strangers, but frankly, when I'm holding the camera up in front of me in public, I'm talking to you guys. And so a tip for finding your voice on YouTube, know thyself. Know thyself so well and you know yourself. I mean, if you've taken 10 minutes once a day for a month and just reflected on your life, your strengths, your weaknesses, you will figure out what is your voice? Who are you? What are you here to communicate to so many people on the other side of the screen that frankly you won't know everybody, which is crazy, right? I publish a video, you watch, strangers watch, people that have never been on the channel watch, but you keep talking. You keep digging deeper into who you are as a person. And over time, four to six months, maybe less, maybe more, you will find your voice. I promise. I promise. It will come. But you have to do it. You got to take that first step, take that first step and then the second and the third and over a little bit of time it will click. Finding your voice and finding your audience. Let the audience find you. I have been blown away by all of these people and frankly I don't know where everyone comes from and I will never know until hopefully on the other side, right? But people keep coming to this channel and commenting and chiming in and I just continue to be blown away by the interconnectedness of the digital continent, the worldwide web, the social media, because I publish a lot on YouTube, but I also on Instagram and Snapchat and I'm trying to meet people in different places. And so let the audience come to you and it will happen in mysterious ways and sometimes in very direct concrete ways. For example, I just met a lady in the comments down below in yesterday's vlog or maybe two days ago and she connected to this channel when I, well, when I did this. So I believe she is a runner, an ultra runner probably, and she found that video through an article and ba-da-bing-ba-da-boom-ba-da-bing and boom, there she is commenting below. And now she, now like I know her name, I don't know what she looks like, but that's okay. I know her name and it's awesome. But now we can communicate it to two ways street. However, we're at a bit of a crossroads. We are here on this channel. I found my voice. I believe the audience is beginning to find us. It's amazing. But the content that I'm publishing every day has evolved a little bit, you know, and I love it. But I need to know if you love it, especially the folks who have been watching for not just six months or 12 months, but 18 months and 24 months and commenting not every day, but almost every day. It blows my mind how much and how consistent you are in commenting. So what do we publish here on this channel? Daily Vlogs. What do those daily vlogs focus on most often? Family life, running, but I'll be completely transparent with all of you. I have to be vigilant of my time and the videos that I choose to publish, the themes I choose to focus on, and YouTube, I just got an email from YouTube yesterday saying that the number one category for videos being watched on YouTube every single day remains the how-to category. Did you know that? How-to videos, how-to mow your lawn, how-to change a tire on a car, how-to cut your kid's hair, that remains the number one category watched on YouTube. More than music videos, which is crazy, more than gaming, and so the crossroads, I have to be vigilant of the daily vlog desire of my heart to share life with you, family life, running, running, family life, a little bit of money and finances, date nights, that's family life. The good stuff, I have to be a little vigilant. How do I continue to grow, and that maybe is the question of the day, how do I continue to grow the channel while still being here for you guys through the daily vlog? I actually think I'm walking a pretty good line between the daily vlog and let's say running gear reviews, which those videos are doing well, or the daily vlog and how-to videos, how-to fix the laundry machine door, how-to fix the stove, done that, and so yes, that is definitely the question of the day. How do I walk that balance of publishing a daily vlog for you while still understanding the greatest category for watch time on YouTube remains how-to videos. Now, I do not want this channel to be how-to videos, but I have to be vigilant of what clicks and what doesn't click on YouTube, and so as I continue to find my voice on YouTube and the dovetailing of my voice with an audience, I would love your insight for where you foresee this vlog moving forward and making sure that I'm here to take care of you guys as best I can through the daily video, and I'm not, trust me, the vlog is not going away, but I have to walk that line of daily living and what is continuing to work here on YouTube, YouTube, the second largest search engine in the world behind Google. What crazy. So that is today's vlog, a little riffing, a little thinking, a little brainstorming, a little snapping for you guys all day, every day, love you, say beauty, work hard, love each other.