Is It Worth Posting Video If Nobody Is Watching?
May 09, 2025Yes, if you are clear on what you are getting from it. Likes, shares and comments are a poor measure of whether video is working. The real returns show up in one-to-one conversations, and in the confidence you build by recording at all. Decide what you want first.
This episode started as a reply. Sabina, a friend of Chris’s met through Joseph McClendon III’s A Factor, posted a three minute video asking whether sharing her personal journey on social media was making any difference to anyone, or whether it was a waste of her time. Chris answered her on camera, in what he calls his first comment reply video, and the answer is not a pep talk.
Why does posting feel like shouting into the void?
Because it often is one way. You record, you upload, and nothing comes back. Chris does not argue with that, he starts from it.
“Social media whilst its intent is to be social. You’ve gotta be social, to be social on social media, and you can be posting all this content all the time and getting crickets, right? No likes, no shares, no comments.” – Chris Schwager
The trouble is not that the silence happens. It is that likes, shares and comments are the only measure anyone checks, so silence gets read as failure. It is the easiest number to see, which is a different thing from being the number that matters.
What actually tells you a video is working?
The conversations you have away from the platform.
“Often it’s one-to-one conversations that you’re having with people over the phone or in person that ends up being the true metric of whether your content is rich or not.” – Chris Schwager
This episode is its own evidence. Sabina asked out loud whether anyone was listening, and what came back was not a comment, it was a whole video made in reply. As Chris puts it, it may not be in abundance, but it is a real response, and a comment count would never have recorded it.
Should you post for your audience, or for yourself?
Chris is unusually blunt about his own reason for being there.
“The whole purpose of me being on social media is visibility, so I get eyeballs ultimately into my business, and then by doing so greater revenue, food on the table, grow the family and extend my goals. It’s me first, then them second.” – Chris Schwager
That is not a rejection of giving value, it is the mechanism behind it. In his description of how it works, you see someone sharing something useful ninety nine times, then once saying come to this event, click the link. The giving is what earns the visibility, and the visibility is what earns the opportunity.
What are you building while nobody is watching?
A skill, and it shows up before the audience does. Sabina named her own return without being prompted.
“I don’t have this imposter syndrome anymore. I got used to my accent. I got used to myself on the camera, and that was what I was trying to achieve.” – Sabina
That happened with no engagement to show for it. She set out to learn to speak on camera and she learned it, which is why Chris keeps pointing at what she is diminishing rather than what she is collecting. Fears about speaking, about her accent, about coming across clearly, all smaller after a run of everyday videos nobody applauded.
Worth being precise here, because the internet is full of mindset advice that stops at encouragement. Confidence on camera is trainable, not a personality trait you either have or do not, which is the case made in camera confidence training as a skill rather than hype. If it is nerves stopping you before you press record, overcoming camera shyness is the closer starting point, and why on-camera confidence breaks and how to rebuild it covers what actually causes it to collapse mid-take. The wider system sits in the video coaching pillar.
Is it worth the time if the numbers stay small?
Time is the real objection here, not confidence. Sabina says the process is very time consuming, and in the same breath says she is enjoying it. Chris stops the video to sit on exactly that contradiction, then asks what she wants: is the enjoyment enough for the time to be worth it to her?
He also does the arithmetic nobody does. A three minute video is rarely three minutes. There are retakes, then the upload. If the real cost is several times the running time and you would rather have that time back, that is a legitimate answer.
“If your priority is something else because you value it more than what you’re valuing this, then go do that. If the gut tells you straight up that you’re wasting your time here, then don’t be here. But you’ve gotta be in it to win it.” – Chris Schwager
So the decision is not whether the numbers are big enough. It is whether you know what you came for. Visibility, a skill, a record of your own thinking, or the one conversation it starts. Any of those survive a post with no likes on it.
Frequently asked questions
Is it worth posting if nobody likes or comments?
Yes, if you know what you are getting from it. Likes are one signal and a weak one. The conversations that follow, on the phone or in person, are the ones that tell you whether the content landed. If neither is happening and you do not enjoy the process, stop. That is a fair answer too.
How do you know if your videos are working?
Watch what happens off the platform. The measure in this episode is the one-to-one conversation, the call or the meeting where someone repeats something you said on camera. Sabina asked whether anyone was listening and received a full video reply rather than a comment. Not abundance, but a real response that no comment count would ever show.
Should you post for your audience or for yourself?
Chris is blunt about his own reason: visibility, eyeballs on the business, revenue, food on the table. Himself first, audience second. That does not cancel out giving value, because the giving is what earns the visibility. In his description you see someone sharing something useful ninety nine times, then asking once.
How long should you keep going before you stop?
There is no set number of posts. The test is simpler than that. If something else matters more to you, go and do that. If your gut says you are wasting your time, do not be there. If you are enjoying it and it is building something you wanted, that is reason enough to keep recording.
Transcript
Read the full transcript
[00:00:00] Chris Schwager: Social media whilst its intent is to be social. You've gotta be social, to be social on social media, and you can be posting all this content all the time and getting crickets, right? No likes, no shares, no comments. What I've found is, hi, I'm Chris Schwager, video coach and founder of the Complete Video Success System, and I've spent decades helping professionals create high impact videos that build trust, generate leads.
[00:00:20] Chris Schwager: And drive business success. And if you've ever felt unsure or under prepared, or just play an awkward with video, this is for you. I'll give you the mindset and strategies to take control, build video confidence so that you show up like a pro. It's time to make your videos work for you. This is officially my first comment video.
[00:00:40] Chris Schwager: Sabina, a friend of mine that we've met through the A Factor for Joseph McClendon. The Third's a Factor is posted, the three minute video, and I'm here to reply in some way to hopefully add a bit of support. Give her confidence that someone is listening and just give us some video confidence in general.
[00:01:00] Chris Schwager: So here we go. Am
[00:01:01] Sabina: I making any difference in someone's else's life by sharing my personal journey on social
[00:01:09] Chris Schwager: media or not all By me responding in this way, then yes, you're making a difference in my life and your life. I guess by my life I'm able to use this as content. For your life. You're hearing my response to you
[00:01:24] Sabina: and I would really appreciate if you can gimme feedback.
[00:01:27] Chris Schwager: The truth is that the social media are just social media. Whilst its intent is to be social. You gotta be social. To be social on social media can feel one way. Meaning you could be posting all this content all the time and getting crickets, right? No likes, no shares, no comments. And that is ultimately kind of what people is valued as the metric for whether things are working or not.
[00:01:51] Chris Schwager: What I've found is. Often it's one-to-one conversations that you're having with people over the phone or in person that ends up being the true metric of whether your content is rich or not. Whether it's made a difference to their life or not. Let's continue. Very time consuming
[00:02:06] Sabina: and if I'm not making any difference, if I'm not inspiring anyone in bank better or making you know, world better place or just feeling not alone, then it is a waste of my time.
[00:02:21] Chris Schwager: If your priority is something else because you value it more than what you're valuing this, then go do that. If the gut tells you straight up that you're wasting your time here, then don't be here. But you've gotta be in it to win it.
[00:02:35] Sabina: There are different reasons why I was sharing things.
[00:02:39] Sabina: I only to learn to speak on camera some days. I felt like I want to share the bad moments so other people doesn't feel. Long, there's a lot of things I would like to do, and this is really time consuming but sound really, I'm enjoying it, but I'm also putting away my,
[00:02:58] Chris Schwager: okay. I've gotta just stop here. So it's time consuming, but you're enjoying it.
[00:03:02] Chris Schwager: So I've just gotta put things into perspective and maybe ask the question, what do you want? Is it enough enjoyment for the time to be worth it for you?
[00:03:10] Sabina: If I'm doing this, I want to know I'm doing this for others and then that it is making some kind of difference.
[00:03:18] Chris Schwager: And the, I'll be straight up with you.
[00:03:21] Chris Schwager: I really don't do this for others. I.
[00:03:27] Chris Schwager: The whole purpose of me being on social media is visibility, so I get eyeballs ultimately into my business, and then by doing so greater revenue, food on the table, grow the family and extend my goals. It's me first, then them second. Ultimately, but I do appreciate the idea or the concept of love your audience and do it for them.
[00:03:48] Sabina: I'm just asking for this feedback today so I can plan what I'm gonna do in the future. I have done my everyday deals and it's not perfect. But I don't have this imposter syndrome anymore. I got used to my accent. I got used to myself on the camera, and that was what I was trying to achieve. This is why I started with this, but also I had this urge to share and I think that's true.
[00:04:15] Sabina: But now I need to choose if I'm going to continue and if I'm going to continue, it's gonna be for for benefit of myself and others. Is going to help because, but the thing
[00:04:26] Chris Schwager: is, it's kinda ai, right? Like people going, oh no. I'd rather be authentic and have my true voice into one or two years time.
[00:04:33] Chris Schwager: AI is gonna be like, oh, I wrote my own piece. When people are like, what? You wrote your own piece from your heart without ai. Oh my God. So social media's kind of the same, right? It's not going anywhere. You can either be there or you don't. And for a lot of people, individuals, it's about visibility.
[00:04:49] Chris Schwager: There's marketing reasons there's reasons they wanna grow their business. And ultimately anybody I know is on there for that reason. And it's could be perceived as being, oh, this person's just a giver. All they do is [00:05:00] share ideas and concepts. And at some point, one in a hundred times, they'll probably go, okay, I'm having a special event this weekend.
[00:05:07] Chris Schwager: I want you to come click the link below. It's just that you're seeing 99% of the time them giving value. And and I think that's a great strategy.
[00:05:15] Sabina: It's, yeah, it's too much. It takes too much time
[00:05:19] Chris Schwager: for being, takes too much time. Time is seems to be the real barrier here, right? But by virtue of you spending three minutes doing this video, are you better to be spending that time elsewhere right now rather than telling us how much time it's taking you?
[00:05:36] Chris Schwager: Now, maybe you've done this in one take. I'd love to know whether you did multiple takes of this. To get it right because then exponentially you're looking at not just three minutes of the recording, but the recording and maybe a couple of retakes and then the uploading. How long has that taken?
[00:05:51] Sabina: But I would really appreciate your feedback at this time so I can plan for the future and, just
[00:05:57] Chris Schwager: go certain way.
[00:05:57] Chris Schwager: Do you need our feedback for you to plan for the future? What do you want? And that's the thing, like if you are looking for visibility and you enjoy doing it. Then that surely will be enough for you to make the decision now that this is the right solution for you, right? Because ultimately, if you are asking for something, you're getting something in return.
[00:06:17] Chris Schwager: It's working okay. By virtue of me presenting this feedback to you is working. It may not be in abundance. You might not be getting hundreds of thousands of people giving you feedback in this way, but ultimately, this is the voice. By you hitting my feed, I'm here. I'm here for you. It can be such a challenging period.
[00:06:37] Chris Schwager: There can be very hot and cold relationships with social media, but you are diminishing your imposter syndrome. Your ability to overcome fears and phobias about speaking and being coming across clear and English and whatnot. Those are happening, and those are the benefits. Those are the upsides to you presenting yourself in this way.
[00:06:56] Chris Schwager: And if the big goal is to give back, then you're doing that. You're doing that really well. I'll see you soon
[00:07:02] Sabina: here in person going beyond Guidebook maybe.
[00:07:06] Chris Schwager: Thank you. I wanna buy my guidebook. See what Beyond Guidebook is. Now I'm curious. You caught my attention. Good on you. Sabina. I love you. I think it's fantastic that you've actually put this video out, put your heart on the sleeve.
[00:07:19] Chris Schwager: I think it's a really important part for people to see that the world is not all about gung-ho confidence on social media. It's a big leap for a lot of people to present themselves in front of camera. I. So all the cred, well done. Join my video Confidence Collective. I'll show you how you can do this more and more in the video.
[00:07:38] Chris Schwager: Confidence Collective is give you the strength, simplify your message, and get it out to the people that really matter. Thanks for listening to the Video Confidence Collective Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, leave a five star review on Apple Podcast and Spotify and subscribe to us on YouTube so you never miss an episode.
[00:07:53] Chris Schwager: For more resources, check out the show notes and follow me at Chris Schwager or Ridge Films and see you on the next episode.
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