My Year of YouTube: A Learning and Growth Journal — Week 9: The Struggle of Reinvention — Losing Viewers but Gaining Clarity

3 min readMar 20, 2025

Introduction: The Growing Pains of a Pivot

This week has been a tough one. Rebranding my YouTube channel from strictly Ruby on Rails content to a broader focus on entrepreneurship and real-life tech business lessons has not been an easy transition. I’m losing viewers, engagement is dropping, and I’m questioning whether my existing audience is willing to follow me on this new journey.

I believe what I’m creating is valuable — real insights from a real tech entrepreneur who has built and sold businesses, made mistakes, and learned from them. But many viewers seem stuck on wanting more Rails content, and I’m feeling the weight of that resistance. It’s frustrating, but I’m determined to push through, especially with my book From Monkey to Mogul launching soon.

This Week’s Actions: More Strategy, Less Content

I didn’t publish any new videos this week — not because I didn’t have ideas, but because my focus was elsewhere. I’ve been deep into the launch of my new SaaS, Magnet Manager, while also preparing for my book release on March 31. I do have a video shot but haven’t edited it yet — partly due to time constraints, but also due to motivation. It’ll go out next week, though.

Meanwhile, I’ve been reflecting on how to market my new content. The drop in views and engagement might not mean the pivot is wrong — it might mean my approach to introducing it needs to be different. I’m considering whether I should occasionally sprinkle in Rails content to keep part of my audience engaged or if that would just confuse things more.

Challenges & Lessons Learned

Engagement is down, but is it permanent?

My numbers tell the story:

Subscriber count: 5,479
28-day video views: 3,960
Watch time: 184.3 hours
CTR: 3.7%

Everything is down, which is discouraging, but I have to remind myself that pivots always come with growing pains. If I believe in this direction (and I do), I have to stay the course while tweaking my marketing approach.

Audience resistance vs. new audience attraction
I’m still getting comments asking for more Rails content, which makes me question whether I’m alienating my existing audience too fast. However, I also believe that my new focus has the potential to attract a different, more engaged group of viewers over time. I need to be patient and refine my messaging to reach them.

Marketing needs to catch up with content
Maybe the drop in engagement isn’t a content issue — it’s a marketing issue. I need to do more to actively bring in the right viewers who are looking for business and entrepreneurship insights.

Plans for Next Week

Edit and publish the next video — No more delaying. I’ll get it out and monitor engagement.
Experiment with audience communication — Maybe a community post or a direct video addressing the pivot could help frame the change better.
Fine-tune my marketing strategy — I need to look at ways to find and attract the right audience, not just keep trying to convert the old one.
Prepare final promotions for my book launch — With From Monkey to Mogul releasing soon, I want to maximize visibility.

Final Thoughts: Stay the Course or Adapt?

This week has been tough, but pivots are never smooth. Losing viewers doesn’t necessarily mean the new direction is wrong — it just means I have work to do in refining how I communicate the shift. I have to decide whether occasional Rails videos will help or just confuse things. Either way, I know one thing for sure: I’m not stopping.

Want to Support the Journey?

Check out my SaaS: Magnet Manager (AppSumo deal here)
Pre-order my book: From Monkey to Mogul
Visit the book homepage: frommonkeytomogul.com

Got thoughts on pivoting a YouTube channel or business? Drop a comment — I’d love to hear from others going through similar challenges.