A long time ago, way back in 2006, a certified accountant called Den Howlett who was making a name for himself on social media at the time, had to persuade me that I should start blogging. I was not convinced that it would work. I was wrong. Dan was right. 18 years later there have been more than 33.9 million reads on this blog.
I had much the same attitude towards Twitter when it first came out. I was, at best, a sporadic user, not really making the platform work for me. When I did, which was relatively recently, things took off for me there, and, as a result, I have been the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales social media accountant of the year for the last five years. I have over 250,000 followers.
I had the same reticence about either podcasting or using YouTube and TikTok. Like these other platforms, I was not convinced that they would work for me. I dabbled, but I was only really persuaded to commit to producing videos when it became clear that my son Thomas and I wanted to work together to create content, which is what we have been doing since March. Like the other platforms, I did not, however, expect things to take off. I am not a pessimist. I just don't imagine that people want to talk about economics, politics, accounting tax.
Yesterday was another day that convinced me that I was wrong again.
On Monday afternoon, I listened to the miserable things that Rachel Reeves had to say in the House of Commons and then wrote an article on it for The National newspaper. Having used that opportunity to sort my ideas out, I then sat down in front of the camera, with Thomas behind it, and, as usual, spoke unscripted into the camera.
We began the edit of the video almost as soon as we had recorded, but were tired after a long hot day, so we decided to delay putting it out until yesterday morning when it was published at 7 am.
The YouTube reaction, in particular, caught us by surprise. We had around 20,000 views in the first couple of hours on that platform, and nothing like that has happened before.
A day on, the video has now been viewed 45,900 times on YouTube. A majority (around 62%) watched the whole video. It has also delivered almost 500 new followers on that platform, taking that number to over 15,000 for the first time.
We thought that this was always one of those days when TikTok was not going to compete with YouTube. Views of this video only amounted to about 7,000 by early evening, but that's still pretty good. However, TikTiok users are night owls. By this morning, there have been more than 58,000 views, delivering more than. 100,000 for this video in a day.
Also worth noting is that the last couple of days have seen exceptional traffic on this blog, with over 30,000 views each day, which figure is rarely achieved. As a consequence, July 2024 is bound to be the best month in the history of the blog, with around 680,000 views, which exceeds the previous highest record of 609,000, set in June this year.
In March, when we began this adventure, I did not see myself becoming a content creator. It seems that this is what we (and I stress that 'we') now are.
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I think content creation is the new battle ground for our future and remain grateful that you and your son are having a crack at it.
It’s hard work…
Nothing of worth was achieved without it.
“Jia you!” as they say in this part of the world
‘Never doubted that for a moment……………….
Oh yes, Richard. Never a truer word spoken. “Build it and they will come, but then they will want to see what else you’ve got”, in a paraphrasis of Field of Dreams.
Thanks Ralph
I can’t tell you how much effort has gone into learning this though….
Great news Richard well done to you and your son.
Very impressive numbers.
Helping people to understand a complicated topic and debunk the lies and misinformation of the MSM is very important.
Excellent news!!
Thanks
Congratulations!
HI Richard,
MIght I suggest that it is because you are demystifying the way our governments run the economy. Politicians and the MSM want the public to believe that this stuff is too hard to understand, or too boring, to bother with ,and to leave it to them. That just leaves unanswered questions that no-one asks.
Whilst I do not agree with some of your political positions, your glossary, blogs on specific subjects, and the Taxing Wealth report (plus notes), have been invaluable resources for me.
Thank you
Regards
I wonder how many MPs read your blog. Regularly. And can It change their fond beliefs or do they dismiss your ideas as deluded?
Rachel Reeves follows me on Twitter
A fantastic achievement – to venture despite scepticism; to persevere; to listen and respond to the criticisms and encouragements; to provide a role model; and much more besides.
So what is Reeves / her team gleaning from following you? If they actually read / listen to your tweets … which ever way you look at it they are aware of your stance, presumably to ensure that they have responses ready when others challenge them on the same ground. So their position is essentially defensive of their carefully concocted, destructive nonsense.
I hope some might notice
I have to live in hope
oooopppps – If I thought there was any chance she might be reading I would be a bit more polite!
@Clive Parry –
Why?
Thank you for the splendid news, Richard.
Congratulations to Thomas and you.
Some of the followers are / were from Islington Labour Party. I used to present to them on behalf of friends who served and / or were members there pre-covid and Starmer’s election as party leader.
Many thanks
Congratulations to you both, and long may you continue to create!
Thanks
I don’t think you do, but have you considered monetising your content?
The income could be used to send every MP, or other influencers, a copy of any/all your publications, or something like The Deficit Myth.
We have reached that point on TikTok
We are not sure about YouTube as yet…will people give up wacthing in that case?
Perhaps if you tell people your aims/motive, it might even encourage people to watch more.
There’s only one way to find out.
That is the channel introductory video
I posted it on the blog recently
It wouldn’t make any difference to me as I watch all YouTube videos through the NewPipe proxy and that filters out all advertisements.
Interesting…
“We are not sure about YouTube as yet…will people give up watching in that case?”
@Richard – Of course not! The magazines I subscribe to are 50% ads yet I continue to send in a check each year to renew my subscription. Advertisements are like death & taxes; they are just there.
All my favorite YouTube channels have ads and I keep watching.
Noted…
One of my first reads every day. Many thanks.
Thanks
+ 1
I have followed the blog for over 12 years and commented a number of times. I am grateful for all I have learnt.
I have noticed there seem to be more comments -and we know you weed out the growing number of trolls-plus all the other work you do.
My feeling is this puts a responsibility on contributors to make sure their comments are useful and relevant and we don’t just use the space for venting our feelings- however heart felt they may be. Or because we enjoy an on-line discussion. Your time is valuable.
We live in hope that 1) constituents will try to influence their MPs 2) MPs of all parties will read and pressure their leadership.
Dealing with comments does take a lot of time
The delete button is easy to use, blocking takes only a little longer
But I do sometimes have to delay reading longer comments – I don’t always have the time for them
Richard,
No apology necessary. You are inviting us into your virtual drawing room for a chat. We participate in your daily salon at your convenience as we are invited guests.
NO APLOLGY NECESSARY!
Thanks
The tide is running in the direction of trusted, independent sources.
Traditional ‘news’ reporting has become dire and attention seeking. The traditional MSM platforms have seen their revenue models deminish and editors and journalists have long seen thier ‘superpower’ as information ‘gatekeeper’ disappear.
An increasingly educated population sustains a thirst to understand. Realise in or not they are shifting their media preferences and actively seek out trusted independence voices.
Who else can’t remember the last time they bought a newspaper or rarely watches TV news (C4 News may be the exception). Who else makes time instead for a growing list podcasts and follows experts like Richard?
And my children in their early/mid 20s and both politically interested/active (more issue than party political) would say ‘they still print newspapers?’, ‘never ,watch TV, apart from sport, only stream’ and that they learn about what’s happening in the world via TikTok and Youtube and Instagram (long deleted Facebook and given up with X).
Much like mine
Cracking stuff, Richard, and all power to you and your son’s elbow (as it were). I have to say that after preferring to read the transcripts of your videos – solely because I’ve always read the blogs – I’ve started to enjoy them too. And no doubt by covering your chosen subjects across a variety of platforms I’m sure your reach is extended considerably. Excellent!
Considerably
We reckon we have now mastered the kit we need
Now we are going for improving the content and reach…
Thanks Ivan