Lessons from 20 Years of Autoblog.nl on YouTube

By Wouter Karssen, Editor-in-Chief of Autoblog.nl

Lesson Zero: You, too, will eventually need reading glasses. The most confronting part is thinking you’re not getting much older, while the footage clearly tells a different story. Despite my stubborn denial of the laws of nature, I knew this moment would come. I’m writing this wearing reading glasses — something I definitely didn’t need twenty years ago.

Lesson 1: Consistency beats perfection

In television, every shot is expected to be as close to perfect as possible, even though it rarely is. Films are shot in countless takes, only for the very best one to be selected in the editing room. That makes sense when your work ends up on the big screen, but YouTube plays by different rules.

One of our cameramen always puts it perfectly. To quote Martijn Koevoets:

“We fully commit to quantity.”

It sounds like a joke, but it’s the truth. The foundation has to be solid, but not every video needs to be perfect. Good audio and decent visuals are enough. Of course, sometimes you want to show what you’re capable of, but showing that you’re making videos at all is often more important.

Creators who last 20 years on YouTube publish regularly. They accept “average” videos because sometimes something is better than nothing.

Lesson 2: Adapting is essential

A lot has changed in twenty years. Back then, competition was minimal and “shorts” were something you wore to the gym or on summer holidays. Today, successful YouTubers continuously adapt to algorithms, changing trends and growing competition. Resolution evolved from HD to 4K and even 8K.

Formats changed too. From short, tightly edited videos to vlogs, then shorts, and now podcasts.

One sentence is strictly forbidden: “This is how we’ve always done it.”

Lesson 3: Your audience grows with you — but not entirely

Being active on YouTube for this long means watching your audience grow older. A community forms, views become less anonymous, and people start following you for who you are, not just what you cover. Authenticity becomes more valuable than hype. That said, we’ll still happily ride a good hype when it comes along.

At the same time, you must keep innovating and think about how to engage younger audiences. That’s where future growth lies and how you avoid becoming irrelevant.

Lesson 4: Trends are temporary, archives are permanent

Viral videos fade quickly. Other types of content last longer: explainers, used car videos, documentation of a specific era. Our YouTube channel has become a historical archive, even for ourselves.

Lesson 5: Technology changes, stories don’t

We started with a camera that used tapes. To preserve the expensive mechanism of that camera, we bought a smaller one just to ingest footage. The big, pricey camera had to last for years. Laugh all you want, at the time, we didn’t know any better.

Nothing has evolved as fast as camera technology. We switched to DSLR cameras, which, with the right software, allowed for incredibly high-quality video.

We used bullet cams, multiple generations of GoPros, and crates full of tripods and suction mounts. GoPros were frequently attached to cars. Over the years, quite a few flew off, though we usually managed to find them again. Somewhere in the dunes near Wassenaar, there’s probably still a microSD card with footage of the Opel Ampera. If you happen to find it, you know where to reach us.

Software didn’t stand still either. With the rise of AI, a whole new set of possibilities emerged: cleaning up audio, turning photos into moving images, automatically creating shorts: AI can handle it all.

Cameras, editing tools and platforms constantly change, but the foundation of good video remains the same: strong storytelling, clear explanations, emotion and humor. Buying gear is fun, but it doesn’t automatically result in good videos. Invest in storytelling, not just tools.

Lesson 6: The best camera is the one you have with you

This may sound obvious, yet people often forget that modern smartphones can capture brilliant video. If the audio isn’t perfect, AI tools can improve it. At least you have the shot. So don’t hesitate to use your phone to film.

Lesson 7: Don’t let it drive you crazy

Over twenty years, you receive plenty of compliments but probably even more negative comments. Complaining or insulting someone from behind a keyboard is easy.

Views go up, views go down, and your own motivation may follow that same rollercoaster. Take breaks when needed and filter the criticism.

Lesson 8: Monetization is constantly evolving

At Autoblog.nl, we’re not solely dependent on YouTube. Our own website also generates significant ad revenue, thanks to our partner Nextday.

In the early days, YouTube didn’t even have ads (hard to imagine now). Later, Google AdSense allowed creators to earn their first euros. Revenue rose quickly, then collapsed just as fast. Frustrating, but educational.

Look into sponsorships for your videos or specific formats. We do relatively little with memberships and merchandise, but those offer plenty of opportunities as well.

Even after 20 years, new opportunities continue to emerge. The lesson: diversify your revenue streams and never rely on just one model.

Lesson 9: Who is your audience, and what language do they speak?

Because we were early, we quickly attracted international traffic. In the early days, we created subtitles ourselves. Something that can now be done automatically.

We also experimented with a Spanish-language channel, but that never really took off. At one point, we seriously considered switching to English. Our potential audience would have been much larger, maybe we should have gone for it. Still, there’s something uniquely appealing about a local, Dutch-language channel.

So there you have it. A whole lot of wisdom shared. I also realize that we still need to apply many of these lessons ourselves. A lot of it sounds simple, but staying consistent and keeping it up isn’t always easy. We may be elderly in YouTube terms, but we’re still learning every single day.