#234: I broke my youtube channel (and here's how I'm fixing it)

When I started my YouTube channel, I honestly had no idea what I was doing. 

I tried educational videos.
I tried teaching.
I tried interviews, podcast-style content, random topics…

And somehow, my channel grew before my message was clear.

That’s how you end up with subscribers and followers but hearing crickets. 

In this video, I’m sharing:

what went wrong with my YouTube channel

why hiring help too early made things messier

and what I’m doing now to clean it up and realign the channel for 2026

This video is for you if:

you’re thinking about starting a YouTube channel but don’t know what to talk about

you already have a channel and feel stuck or inconsistent

you’re wondering if YouTube is even worth it for coaches

It’s a behind-the-scenes confession— and maybe permission for you to stop overthinking what to do with yours. 

👇 Drop your case in the comments:

Are you starting YouTube? Restarting? Or letting it sit because you don’t know what to do with it?

Want to follow me on youtube? 

👉🏼Subscribe Here: http://youtube.com/michellkueispeak

Chapters

• 0:00 Why The Channel Felt Like A Mess
• 1:25 Who This Episode Helps And Why
• 3:20 Consistency Struggles And Time Off
• 6:09 Hiring Help That Hurt Growth
• 8:35 The Alignment Aha Moment
• 10:35 The Fix: Focus, Audience, Format
• 13:25 Energy Over Education-Only Content
• 15:05 New Series And Back To Basics
• 16:17 Partner Offers And Free Strategy

Transcript

Michelle Kuei: 0:00

This week, Shelly goes to work and I am clocking in to fix my YouTube channel. Here's a quick backstory. So when I started this YouTube channel, honestly, I had no idea what I was doing. I tried educational stuff, I tried teaching video, and it felt really boring. I've also experienced some other different formats, like guests being on the show, doing podcast styles, and doing interviews. It goes way back to the pandemic time where everybody seemed to be online. So I had interview styles on this channel. There's old videos that go way back. And back then I was also covering a lot of random topics, depending on what I feel like and what I would like to talk about. So it's been a big hot mess. So today I am clocking in to fix my channel. And I wanted to give you some behind the scenes of how this channel has evolved and what I'm planning to do moving forward in 2026. The bottom line is my channel grew before my message was clear and before my vision for what I want to do on the YouTube channel was clear. So let's get into it. Hey coach, welcome to Make It Visible Podcast. I'm Michelle Quay, your visibility marketing coach, and I help female life coaches to get seen in all the right places, attract happy paying clients, and build a coaching business that actually feels good to run. Even if you are still trying to figure things out. Each week I'm giving you visibility tips, simple marketing strategies, and showing you how to create the kind of content that connects with your audience so that you can stand out, build your authority, and attract clients who's already feeling like a yes before they jump onto your discovery call. So grab a notebook, pour yourself a favorite drink, and that's make your coaching business visible. Alright, so today's show is for coaches who are thinking about starting a YouTube channel but you don't know what to talk about, or for coaches who already have a YouTube channel, but you feel kind of stuck in terms of you don't know what to do with it. Me too, that's exactly where I was. This is also for coaches who wonder if YouTube is the place to be. So if you fall into those three categories, hopefully by what I'm sharing with you today, it's going to give you some insight in terms of what you want to do for your YouTube channel, learning from all the mistakes that I have made and where I am today. As I said earlier, this channel started because I knew I needed to have a place for my voice, I needed to have a place for the content I'm creating, and I also wanted, just like a lot of coaches out there, I wanted to be a place where I can attract my ideal client. But it turns out that I wasn't really clear in terms of what YouTube channel is about and how do I create content on here. So instead of going all in, I was inconsistent in terms of the topic that was covering, the way that I would show up, and the message I was delivering, and the way I delivered it. So because the channel wasn't growing, I was feeling discouraged, and probably a lot of you feel the same way too that you have the heart of showing up, you want to show up, but then the content is not translating with the effort and energy and time that you're putting in. It feels really discouraging because you're not seeing the result that matches the time and effort that you have put in. And that's where I was. So I stepped away and I took a long time off YouTube at all because I wasn't creating video content, it was not something that was on the top of my priority list. But then I was listening to a lot of different advice, and just like you, probably scrolling around and watching a lot of YouTube channel, just so that you can get some idea of exactly what I want to do with this channel. So I took some time off the YouTube channel and I wasn't creating videos content per se. I was still doing it inside my Facebook group, but even that was sporadic. Sometimes I go on to live for a week and then I don't anymore. So when it comes to video content, I was just not very consistent. I was very consistent on posting on my Instagrams and all these other places, but just not on YouTube. So when I finally decided to come back last year, the beginning of last year, I was like, okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna show up, I'm gonna be consistent, I'm gonna create content, I'm gonna create videos. And I did for that whole year of creating video content. I put it out and it was just not something that resonated with me. It was not the way that I want it to be, but yet I don't know what to do with it. Kind of like my TikTok right now. I have a TikTok account, but the TikTok account is just sitting there because I have no idea, I don't know what to do with it. So I just don't do anything. And you might relate to this as well when you don't know what to do, you just don't do anything. So when I finally came back to YouTube, I was like, okay, so I'm just gonna create video content, and no matter how long or short it is, I'm just gonna put it out there and see what the future holds for me. And it's kind of like, okay, so I'm just gonna do this and hopefully it'll work. If it doesn't, oh well, I try, right? And it was really messy. So here's the messy part and what went wrong. Because the number was not growing, I decided what was the first thing that came to my mind. Since I'm not good at this, let me just get some help, right? So I hired a YouTube manager to basically take over the channel, and this person was responsible for editing the video, creating the thumbnail, and posting and releasing and publishing the video for me. Basically, all I have to do is just turn on my camera and show up and start talking. But that didn't go well. Now, the problem is they have shared these videos to places that aren't even my ideal audience at all. So my number grew, but my view and my engagement did not grow at all. And that was the moment I realized, and I actually had a conversation with this person. I said, Hey, you know, that is not where I want you to share these. So you think that you don't know, and that's causing you a lot of headache. Someone who knows enough also fall into the trap of having these experts managing the YouTube channel and not knowingly create this hot mess for myself. Anyway, so they share my video to places where it's not my ideal audience, where they are and they are not going to ever engage with my content or let alone watching my video, because my video is just not creative for them. The number grew, but it doesn't bring me any joy in creating content at all because there's nobody engaging them. There, there's nobody watching them. And the same thing applies to those of you who's like pumping out creating content, and you may have an audience where it's just not your perfect ideal client. And therefore, they're not engaging, and it makes you feel like, oh, why am I even bothering to do this because nobody is watching? But in reality, it's not because they're not interested, because you're showing your video content to people who are not ideal. They don't want your content anyway. And that's what went wrong with this YouTube channel. So that was my big realization when I realized that my channel grew before my message was clear, before my vision of what I want to do with this channel got clear. So growth is not the problem, the problem is alignment. You have to align your content with the audience that you're trying to serve and the topic that it's interested to them. So nowadays, like I don't care if my number or my audience number where it is. What I care is whether or not I'm creating the video that's actually going to be helpful for those I'm trying to reach or I'm trying to serve. Because I can create the best content and best videos out there, but as long as it's not of interest to the people that I'm going to serve, it doesn't matter what that number looks like. So that was a big aha moment for me early in the beginning of last year, and I was trying to clean up this channel. Like you can see it, but this is what I've been doing behind the scene of like doing the editing myself, creating the thumbnail myself, writing the copy and writing the descriptions all myself, because I went through that period where it was like things went wrong. Things went sideways. So the bottom line is if your audience is not watching, then the content that you're creating, it almost feels like it's not worth creating at all. But in reality, you just need to align your content to the audience that you are creating it for. I hope that makes sense. But that's my aha moment, realizing that oh, this is what's going on with my YouTube channel. So here I am. I'm trying to fix it. All right. So speaking of fixing it, what are we gonna do to fix it? Moving forward, I was in my headquarter. This is my headquarter. It's just a small corner of my bedroom, by the way. I'll give you a more behind the scene of where I work. It's a small corner of my bedroom. This is my where my headquarter is. What am I going to do to fix it this year? So I'm going to be super clear who I'm talking to, and I'm going to choose a more focused topic that would be helpful and hopefully interested to you. If you are a life coach or you're a coach in training, I'm creating the content for you. So I would love to hear from you what are some of the interesting topics that you would like to hear from me. Hopefully, I'll give you more behind the scene of what went wrong, what went sideways in the way that I create content and I show up on social media, and what went wrong with the things that I'm doing. And hopefully, that'll give you some insights in terms of what do you want to fix or what do you want to do in your business. Like I said earlier, I had gained subscribers on this channel, but very little of you. And there's a reason behind it. It's not because you're not sharing or you're not reaching to more people, it's because the content that you're creating, it's not of interest to the subscriber that you have. And the subscriber that was originally came from, it was a hot mess, right? So I'm trying to clean that up. So I don't care so much about the subscriber anymore. I care about how if this is of interest to you. I wanted to be more conversational. So that's another thing that I'm going to fix is that I wanted to be more conversational. And I am still going to give you some of the tips or the tricks that I use to make things work. But it's going to be less of me teaching or preaching you because I'm sure you can find that content somewhere else. But I wanted to come across in terms of this is something that I experience, like this hot mess that you see on this YouTube channel. And trust me, I am nowhere perfect, and I'm always constantly learning too. So I had to watch so many tutorials on what's going on with the YouTube channel in order to really realizing what I am doing wrong in my whole process of creating this channel and wanting to make this channel work for whether it's get more followers, get more audience, or just bringing my point of view out there and hopefully it will land on somebody. Alright, so keep watching because I'm actually creating a series where Shelly goes to work. And by the way, that idea actually came from a newer YouTube channel that I created called Shelly Goes Fishing. I realized during the time of building my business, I don't have any hobby. I was so focused on building my business, I've completely forgot that hey, having a hobby is important. So recently I picked up fishing. So I got a fishing pole, I got fishing equipment. So that channel is called Shelly Goes Fishing. So that idea came into this Shelly Goes to Work because there's a lot of things that we need to fix in our business constantly. Apparently, YouTube channel is one of those. And honestly, sometimes you just have to go back to the basic and looking at what went well and what could be better. And one of the things that I realized this year, early this year, as I sat down and going through my goals for the years, what do I want to accomplish, whether it's this channel or within my own business, there's been a lot of aha moment realization that I came to conclusion that what I'm really great at is this level of energy that I bring to the video. And in the past, I tried to do it more educational. So you'll see how to find your niche, you'll see how to create your content, but that really doesn't match my whole energy and the way that I'm typically showing up and talking to my people. So I wanted to bring more conversation here on the channel. So you'll start to see some changes with the way that I'm creating video, and hopefully you resonate, you like the style as well. If you're ever thinking about starting a YouTube channel, or maybe you're stuck not knowing what to talk about and what to do with yours, I would love to hear your case. So drop your case in the comment down below. Maybe it's something that I have already tried and done. I can share some insight with you, or maybe there's something that someone else had tried and done before, they can also share some insights. But I would love to hear from you in terms of have you thought about starting a YouTube channel? Maybe you have, maybe you already started, and it's just kind of set there like I did, because simply I just don't know what to do with it. If that is you, I would love to hear from you. And thanks again for clocking in at work with me. And Shelly Goes to Work is clocking out. Thank you for listening to Make It Visible Podcast. If you love this episode and want deeper support for your coaching business, head over to elevate lifecoaching.org and see how we can partner together to turn your passion into a profitable business. I help female coaches launch and scale their coaching business faster than ever without wasting time and money, filling the gaps in your marketing strategy, creating a simple and easy to follow system so you can accelerate on the path of coaching business that you love to wake up to. Head over to elevatelifecoaching.org and grab a free strategy out today.