Something I would consider is beginning to do ball review livestreams! This could be an extra source of revenue and would allow people to see your thoughts on balls as soon as you begin the review process. Then you can pull clips from the streams to make the concise ball reviews you normally make and include time stamps for the stream for balls you don’t have time to make a polished video over!
I don't know how many times I have looked up an older review of yours because I was interested in a ball that just got discontinued. Everyone races to review the newest ball which I guess gets the most views. If it's a time saver, do multiple balls on the same review. And a poll might help to see what your viewers want to see to save you on drilling everything. Appreciate all you do Ben. Good luck with your new endeavors.
100% me too. I went a year and a half of reviews when I came back to bowling this past July. Whenever I was considering a new ball I checked to see if Ben had done a review.
I love bowlers paradise! To ease your work load, outsource your ball reviews to different people. Have like a team of 5, pay them in bowling balls? That way you can keep doing your thing and keep the channel alive.
I watch every single one of your ball review videos. They're efficient, packed with information and higher quality than any other ball review on this platform. It's been awesome to see your sub count grow because it's well deserved. I will continue to watch and recommend!
I realize that it’s a privilege to understand covers, cores, diffs, RGs, PAPs, etc. So, what I’m about to suggest is not for everyone, but it’s something that would benefit me a lot. Honestly dude, I feel like most ball reviews could be a reel. Narrate and tell me a few balls that it’s similar to on the market, show me it striking from its sweet spot, show me what happens when you push its limits, done. Your channel is absolutely one of the best bowling channels out here, but even I admit I skip a fair bit of the technical talking points up front and go right to watching the ball. I can get the info I need from a video and a few key points.
Your 2024 videos were great-concise, easy to follow, and focused on your breakdowns. I love how you explain ball motion and match it to different types of bowlers. Consider handing footage to a skilled editor to save time and keep up with your media company. If you can afford it, you'll save a lot of time.
I enjoy your reviews as they help me make decisions in my ball purchases. Part of the problem is everybody and their sister is doing ball reviews and honestly, they don't know what they are talking about . Keep doing what you are doing as it is concise, informative and does not insult our intelligence. Thank you for what you do and look forward to 2025. ( PS can you do one on the Outer Limits solid?)
TIME, is the most precious item in life. So I suggest you take votes on what viewers like to see and create content based on the votes. That way you can share specific limited videos, and still have time for the other projects.
You're reviews are great. I like the "who is this ball for" segment and is unique to your channel. Perhaps give a decent comparison to other similar balls in enough detail to where you won't feel obligated to review those others unless they are of particular interest to you.
This is definitely one of my go-to sources for ball reviews and motion. I appreciate that the videos are concise and to the point. One idea would be to add another person to the channel? Of course that would require some type of compensation for them, but it could help in lowering the amount of time you personally spend on filming the shots.
I feel a lot of bigger channels do a bunch of more casual content providing a more inviting experience. Channels like yours, ZVL Bowling and Creating the Difference seem to be strictly informative about releases & gear, and while that’s great for people deep into the sport, it’s easy to lose a lot of a more casual viewership. The two things I notice for bowling channel successes are: If more on the informative side , try to make collaborative content. The House Bowling, JR Pro Shop, TV Bowling supply all have videos from 2 or more people consistently to achieve different perspectives. I feel this could help in many ways, one main one being the gathering of information with the ever more important 2 handed ball review. That’d be a great move for your channel because you can pump out just as much content while splitting up the work, and have more of an engaging channel because (at least I find) the more of a group environment is presented, the more inviting it is to be a part of as an audience. The other thing I’d recommend is to start adding some variety! Focus on ball reviews of course, that’s your bread and butter and you do it the best (in my opinion) with cross brand comparisons visualized. However the larger channels - Darren Tang, 220 Average, Forrest Kritzer, etc all tend to have a bit more fun with their content while still reviewing products. Join a league and vlog, set silly challenges (like a wheel spin or head to head content with stakes), or other milestone goal content like when you Megaminded yourself! I feel like I was watching EVERY review you during that span of 2 months when you prefaced every review until you hit that goal. I feel finding a good balance between Professionalism & Casual love for the game will keep viewers excited on all spectrums. Sorry for the book and I hope my opinion helps!
I think something like what Tamer reviews does. Having 2 or 3 different styles of bowlers like a stroker, tweener & cranker roll a few shots with the showcased ball or balls to see the different ball reactions from each bowler style so the viewer can see if that ball matches up with his or her game.
The main questions I have are: Is the issue time oriented? Or money oriented? I enjoy the channel and try to watch all the videos, along with liking and already subscribing. I also enjoy 10 pin tool kit and have referred it to anyone I talk to.
You averaged 1.5 videos a week which is really awesome but time consuming! I will say for myself, there are some bowling ball releases that I don't watch because I'm not interested in. I think doing a poll on reviews we want to see would be beneficial however a drawback to that is the time it'll take to produce a ball review would be longer (at least that's what I think it would). Are there other people that can help you with other aspects of running the channel (throwing the ball, voice-overs, editing, etc)? I appreciate the work you put into these reviews and look forward to seeing more!
Howdy Ben! I only joined your community this past July when I came back to bowling. I love you channel, and feel your 5ish minute reviews are some of the best on YT. The added value of ball comparisons and what bowlers the ball might match up with are awesome. I completely understand that there are just to many balls released to keep up with. Maybe start a poll the day new balls are announced to see what the community wants to see. Another good idea i seen in the comments is going live for some new reviews. I'd also take advantage of posting more in general on the community tab. Also. Your channel has had amazing progress... 5k new subs since I subscribed at 7k. Lane side reviews has been on YT 13 years and only has 7k more subs than you. The Hype blew up after 15k. Keep your head up! Keep doing you, and we will keep up the likes and comments.
I absolutely love your current format and would never even consider buying a ball before seeing your review on it, and whenever someone I know looks for a ball, I either recommend your channel, or dive into your video archives myself to research for them. One thing I think you should DEFINITELY do, is link to your review videos on the Bowler's Paradise website. If someone is shopping for a ball, have a thumbnail for the review video below the big picture of the ball. Obviously, not everyone who watches a review video is going to buy that ball on your website, but everyone looking for a ball on your website is going to watch the review video.
Ben, i think there is a reason that you have garnered the amount of subscribers as you have. I think you doing what you want to do is what defines this channel. We are here as audiences, what you did in 2024 was consistent, precise and entertaining. With that being said, have you considered doing like donation slot for your videos where you highlight the patreon donors and bowling a strike for them? Putting their names on the ball and bowling a strike? Perhaps you could have a poll of your viewers top 5 bowling balls and you can give more insight between all the balls and at the end giving your personal ranking for the balls. Perhaps doing some fun videos of different types of bowlers? Like clowning on the stereotype of bowlers you might see at an alley? Regardless will be watching your videos with a smile on my face Now thats! A bowler’s paradise!
Your reviews are the only ones I consistently watch, love em. Adding to the guys suggesting long form and more ads, you could expand on the preview videos a bit. Do reviews on 5-6 popular (you know what brands/releases get more views, like hammer, motif, etc) balls of the last month. Cross brand comparison is right there, you can make the arsenal and bowler type suggestions. Maybe even rank the balls in the review. Possibly give a quick verbal overview of the balls released that you don’t use in video.
I will start by saying that I really enjoy your reviews and think you do a really good job at being impartial and honest with your evaluations of bowling balls. That's really refreshing and I enjoy it. Perhaps one idea you could look into is what I see a lot in the various bowling groups I'm in and that is "how do I choose my first ball?" or "I'm just coming back into bowling, here's my stats, where do I go?" or "here's a good place to get started as a new/returning bowler." Something like that could be a good idea for how to come up with new content. Looking forward to whatever you produce in 2025, I will certainly watch whatever pops up!
Your unique and detailed reviews are informative,and helpful in choosing and comparing different balls. Keep up the good work, I'm looking forward to future reviews.
I don't know what the right answer is but i'll tell you this. As a fellow one handed no thumb bowler i definitely value your input on balls. Your cross brand comparisons and who you think would benefit from each ball has helped me a lot. First thing i do is watch your video on whatever ball i consider, even if i've already seen it but don't remember what you thought of it. I don't buy as many balls as i have over the past few years but your videos help me to decide what i want to buy!
Love your content. It's the only review I use when buying a ball. To ease the work load, I'd bring in some staffers that can obtain, drill and throw the balls for you. Then you can narrate the review.
Thank YOU for providing the content and I hope you're are able to get out of it what you put in and more. This is just my suggestion, I will keep watching regardless :) Personally I love the "this ball would work best for this kind of bowler" and I'd like to see those balls compared. No one else does that. These are the balls for speed dominant bowlers, these for rev dominant etc etc. There's an unfilled niche there. Love what you do, thank you and I wish you all the success for 2025.
You have the best channels for reviews in my opinion, for me personally! I can't think of anything you can do better honestly. Love everything about your videos. But I understand they are hard to put out. I will say this though about the revenue, I run a TH-cam channel for the company I work with, and you need to make videos 8 minutes or longer to be able to put mid roll ads on videos. Then, you can place them manually throughout. Highly recommend always adding them manually. It increases revenue a TON. I would say make every video 8 minutes or longer if possible. You can triple your monthly revenue just from that. And be generous with the ads you put in, people are used to it, and as you know many people don't even watch the whole video, so you want to make sure you spread them throughout. As your making this content for us, and consistent, you deserve to make way more than that! You can make that in 2 months probably with the mid roll ads
I love the cross brand reviews and the HONEST assessments of the ball and where it fits and what type of bowler would have the most success with it. If you put out a video I will watch it and like and try to comment. The companies are honestly just putting out too many balls. Most are just copies of something previously released.
Maybe just review the "best bowling balls", only the ones that are worth reviewing. And sometimes if a bowling ball is very popular, you can also review it and tell us why you don't like it. This way if we don't find an specific one in your channel we will know that it's not that good. Another option is also review the best, and the rest just mention them in one vid with 1 or 2 things that you consider important. This channel is very important for bowlers because you are a source of honest and objective information, bowling balls are not cheap at least in my country (Mexico) so I always try to figure out if something fits my playstyle before buying.
I don't bowl like you. I'm old school with my thumb in throwing up 2nd or 3rd arrow. But, I watch all reviews, I don't think I've missed one in over a year plus. I don't want your format to change because I can watch a video in full, or go back and cut to what I wanna see again. I guess things always have to change and evolve and grow. Just keep plugging along you're doing great!
I had to make the switch a couple months ago to only reviewing the balls that I thought fit me better. Trying to review every single release before they came out was costing way too much time and money. Especially when we would get 7-8 balls on the same release day and only have a week to 10 days to get them all out before the release. I am focusing more on new balls that I might actually throw instead of stuff that will never fit my game like the new Venom Hybrid that Motiv is about to drop. I decided today that I’m not even going to drill and review that one.
Keep doing what you are doing. If you want more views, you might need to do enter more tournaments. I’ve noticed success in tournaments builds subs among bowling channels. It can even be league night too.
Love your channel for bowling balls.reviews helped me alot. Love when you tell is if the bowling ball is for rev bowlers or non people who lack revs on the bowling coming out. Keep up the great work. Would love to see videos putting more revs or less revs on a bowling during league .
Love your reviews. I really like your recommendations for what type of bowler a ball will be best for. It has influenced a few of my purchases, and has worked out well. Keep doing what you're doing
many content creators have a Patreon following that helps financially support their efforts and then allows those participants to have more influence on the channel and it's content. I would not waste too much time with opinions from people passing by, get to know your devoted followers who put their money where their mouth is and actually can be helpful, instead of jeering and cynical all the time. love your content and best of luck from Green Bay to any fellow Wisconsinite productions helping to advance knowledge in the sport of bowling, always entertaining to watch and learn!
Make a team of paradise bowlers to review more items so you can cover more ground. So it’s not only just you making all the videos I’m sure there’s a production team behind the scenes but I mean a team of people who review things.
LOVE YOUR REVIEWS NET TO CTD YOU HAVE PROBABLY SOME OF THE BEST INFO. MAYBE TEAM UP A FEW TIMES OR GO ON OTHER CHANNELS LIKE THE HYPE THROW A LITTLE MIX IN THERE AND HONESTLY CUTTING BACK ON SOME OF THE BALLS IS OK
Honestly you just need more viewers, also what I would do is focus on balls that are better promoted from there respected brands those will be the balls that sell the most and people wanna know about
Hey Ben, I love your channel. I think you do a great job on the reviews and you're the first guy I go to check out any new balls. I wish you had more time or had more support but I think your channel is already great so I don't know how it would improve. Just appreciate all you do and I'll keep watching, liking and commenting.
I like @Wewerescab idea but, i would also see if you can debut different bowlers using the same ball, if possible. This is to show the bowling balls usage with different styles. You throw with two fingers, no thumb like myself but, there are more traditional style bowlers and two handed bowlers. So, if you could show all three forms/styles, i think that could help as well.
I would say live stream league where you throw new pieces and talk during and/or after. Wouldn't need worry too much about production. Just tell us what you're seeing and layout used
You are my go to content creator when it comes to Ball Review. My suggestion maybe hire 1 or 2 people to review the ball to ease your workload and also just focus on the Bowling Ball review.
Thank you for your time and insight about these balls. Have you considered live stream (short one). To many balls to review. Considered a teammate with different ball.
I personally am a low ball speed low tilt high rev 2 handed. From what i’ve seen, a lot of people who watch your reviews are similar in that sense. I personally love what you are currently doing and I don’t pick up a ball without checking out your channel first. I think the biggest thing that could give your channel a push is TikTok. The platform is meant to boost your engagement and I think could greatly benefit your expansion. Being more accessible to the public is the number one way to get your revenue up.
A lot of your audience is younger guys such as myself. Getting on tiktok and even instagram more consistently will get your name out there. People have got a lot to learn from you as well. Perhaps if you ever take up some coaching, record it and post it. Similar to what Mark Baker and The Clean Up Crew are doing.
Knowledge is power my brother. N u have a lot of it. The cost of doing what u do isnt cheap or efficient. Id suggest some live streaming and membership packages. Ur channel is big enough for ppl to tune in. Id tune in and send some superchats to get some questions answered. Id pay for a membership to stand out in the crowd. Create a fan base to where u can see the ppl who show up all the time and believe in the channel. Put the time and energy into those ppl. I understand that charging ppl for knowledge is not what u set out to do. But theres a way of helping ppl, and making money while doing so. I’m sorry but i have received coaching. I can’t recall one session that was free. Knowledge is power.
Pls keep up the great work. Try n incorporate 3 styles like tamer bowling channel. Also do more of arsenal videos esp for sport patterns and also pls review shoes bags n ball cleaners etc. 😊
Of course, there's no right answer. Everyone has an opinion, and you know what generates revenue better than we do. IMHO: the review content area is flooded. Likewise, Rosedahl has the market share of "technical" area covered while others do what they can to keep up. What I don't see much of is "this is how you maintain a coverstock week in and week out. Beginner bowlers should do XYZ to get better. This ball is value for the beginner because..." Elite EZ Hook video, to me, was content you don't get anywhere else. Thanks!
Let’s be real: most of us aren’t good enough that the differences between a Mesmerize and an Ion Max would affect our scores if we didn’t know which one we were throwing. Videos that focus on matching balls (or ball categories) to oil patterns and play styles better would be great. For example, I’m slightly speed dominant at 16-17 mph off-the-hand and 250 RPM. My precision at the arrows is often off by up to 4 boards left and right, so forgiveness where I can find it is needed. I bowl at lanes where the oil pattern is long, flatish, and heavy, and I can barely get a 1000 abralon sanded Pure Envy to hook. I’m at a total loss as to what to do about that.
Ben, I’m an avid amateur bowler, a HS bowling coach and I’ve been working in marketing for 25+ years. And I probably watched over 100 hours of review videos last year between you, BrunsNick, CTD, Tang bros and others. I think you have three niches where you could easily own one, two or all three. One, given that you’re already a no-thumb bowler, you’re well position to corner that market (including 2 handers). While I realize every bowler is different, my sense is some balls are just going to be better suited to that style of bowling, so stick to the most intriguing releases for that crowd. Two, I watch these videos for fun, but also to be educated, and I have to say, the education is underwhelming. I watch people throw shots all the time and then use jargon like “smooth,” “continuous” and “picks up in the midlane,” but if I’m being honest, when I watch current videos on the market it’s hard to see any real difference. Maybe more advanced bowlers can, but as someone who has bowled for 40 years and averages 200 in league, I can not. Zoom in and do tight shots that show the differences. Provide more data on breakpoint, etc. With cross-brand reviews (which I also love that you do), particularly with a video production company, lay shots over each other so we can really see the difference. Lastly, this juice might not be worth the squeeze, but offer “build an arsenal” videos for a fee. I for one would be happy to pay some amount to say “Here’s what I have. Here’s what I’m trying to do. What do I need to do to build a better arsenal?” You could reuse video from previous tapings to enhance your recommendations. Honestly, I love trying to help entrepreneurs ideate, so if you’re interested in any further discussion, let me know.
I'm actually in WI. One of my best friends took me to the MI State vs. MI homecoming game a few years back and it was one of the best sporting events i'd ever witnessed. Been a fan of the Green and White since.
You mentioned that drilling is a cost. Would getting a drill press be a worthwhile investment? Or work out a deal with your PSO for free drilling in place of ads or be a sponsor?
I don’t know where to find the answer but I know when you bowl a 300 you submit what ball you accomplished it with and that to me will be how you find out way was the true ball of the year
Just skimming through the comments, and I know this is a hard problem to solve, but it does seem like conducting a poll on what to review may work ahead of reivews, and perhaps including more comparisons (in a concise, informative fashion) within one video may help with trying to keep up. But if getting your hands on the equipment is tough, do a poll and curate the content to be a demonstration and then maybe trying the equipment on different patterns? I also see a few inputs about how you suggest the ball for different types of bowlers and that being wanted, that should remain. Finally, since you are a coach, perhaps tying in some coaching with the curated equipment on different shots could be a decent, well rounded review that is not much seen at the moment. Also, I think you should throw in more transactional fun videos like MegaMind, not so much it saturates, but setting stretch goals for subscribes and or likes and then doing the video for fun yet being true to the channel would be amazing. I love this channel and will continue to support. Keep up the good work. And even though you are a Spartan fan (for me Go Blue!) I will continue to watch and be excited to see what comes next!
Oh, and if you can find people to help with the videos, that would be helpful if it is a time constraint thing. I know that is tough considering the delegation.
Love watching your videos. Might not be time efficient but watching "out of box" reviews is less helpful to us then seeing what the ball looks like at say game 20. You sound to busy for this suggestion but I thought I"d throw it out there.
I took away two things from your video time and money. For the time piece, i would suggest doing a month end review set of videos. In total, i would do three videos at the end of the month for the releases that happened in that month. One video for the symmetric pieces with two parts surface and non surface. Keep each ball review down to a couple of times going down the lane a review of the numbers and the most important part you bring to each ball review, the bowler type you feel that match up best with each ball. At the end, line up the bowling balls and talk quickly about strength, differences and commonality and your opinions. Should be no more than 7 to 12 minutes total for each video. Do the same for asymmetric category. The third category do urethane and hybrids. 3 videos each month drop them at the end of each month and now your at 36 videos for the year. For the revenue side maybe sell subscription based content for deeper dives into certain bowling balls that you know are going to be big in the market. You can plug those bowling balls at the end of your three videos each month. Hope this helps. I watch every bowling ball review you do and hope you keep it going.
No idea how to make the videos profitable but assuming they are meant to drive traffic to the website; I have thought about ordering from BP many times but stopped myself because they don't offer legit drilling. I get several balls a year from another store, drilled to my exact specifications, and they only charge $10 for two finger drills and inserts. If Bowlers Paradise offered $10 2-finger drilling I would be far more inclined to buy there.
Basically the juice isn't worth the squeeze. YT is a hobby not your life blood. Gotta take care of yourself (family) first and get paid for your time (hence committing fully to own business). If you continue...produce less, put behind a pay wall, diehards will follow, throw a freebie out occasionally. Be more selective with ball choices, maybe ask local PS what best selling ball is that month (or run a poll like someone else suggested) and make a longer form review with multi cam angles and lane patterns. Bowling is a tough "genre" to be lucrative. It's a passion project.
I try not to leave comments, but you asked ... Your business is very competitive, you have high quality work ... but it;'s too cookie cutter. It's like your rushing to complete the video so you can make the next one. Relax and choose what you want to review, or what we would like to see, less videos, higher quality. As a viewer, I'm not interested in all the videos you make, ala carte for me. Look at Savage Geese, he makes car videos, but his style is pleasant and the quality is at par for being a top seed YT content creator. That's how you get to the top. Experiment with new ideas!
In all seriousness have different people toss in the ball not just you. Multiple angles from different people. I don't want to just see strikes I wanna a ball that really sucks continue to suck with multiple people toss in them. Long story short hype hype hype best ball if all time BS. MOTIV exj limited venom worst money I spent on my first brand new ball and then I know 6 other bowler whom got this ball as well as two loyal MOTIV bowlers they said this ball was the worst. Not every has a 525 rev rate on a ball like me Tackett.not try in it take anything away from him but most bowlers high 200 to maybe 450 rev rate. Of course the ball looks great but thus is not the average league bowler. This is why I say allow others ti toss the ball LH RH two hand ect etc. I do love but it gets to be the same old reviews with you. I get it its your program but there are so many ball revives by others its nuts. Then even better this guy say great ball another person beats its terrible. I do understand not every ball fits someone's arsenal keep up the great videos thus just my assumption
you could run a poll ahead of releases to determine which balls to review. keep up the great work !
Something I would consider is beginning to do ball review livestreams! This could be an extra source of revenue and would allow people to see your thoughts on balls as soon as you begin the review process. Then you can pull clips from the streams to make the concise ball reviews you normally make and include time stamps for the stream for balls you don’t have time to make a polished video over!
I don't know how many times I have looked up an older review of yours because I was interested in a ball that just got discontinued.
Everyone races to review the newest ball which I guess gets the most views.
If it's a time saver, do multiple balls on the same review. And a poll might help to see what your viewers want to see to save you on drilling everything.
Appreciate all you do Ben. Good luck with your new endeavors.
100% me too. I went a year and a half of reviews when I came back to bowling this past July. Whenever I was considering a new ball I checked to see if Ben had done a review.
I love bowlers paradise! To ease your work load, outsource your ball reviews to different people. Have like a team of 5, pay them in bowling balls? That way you can keep doing your thing and keep the channel alive.
Yes! Like Luke does!
I watch every single one of your ball review videos. They're efficient, packed with information and higher quality than any other ball review on this platform. It's been awesome to see your sub count grow because it's well deserved. I will continue to watch and recommend!
I realize that it’s a privilege to understand covers, cores, diffs, RGs, PAPs, etc. So, what I’m about to suggest is not for everyone, but it’s something that would benefit me a lot.
Honestly dude, I feel like most ball reviews could be a reel. Narrate and tell me a few balls that it’s similar to on the market, show me it striking from its sweet spot, show me what happens when you push its limits, done. Your channel is absolutely one of the best bowling channels out here, but even I admit I skip a fair bit of the technical talking points up front and go right to watching the ball. I can get the info I need from a video and a few key points.
Your 2024 videos were great-concise, easy to follow, and focused on your breakdowns. I love how you explain ball motion and match it to different types of bowlers. Consider handing footage to a skilled editor to save time and keep up with your media company. If you can afford it, you'll save a lot of time.
I enjoy your reviews as they help me make decisions in my ball purchases. Part of the problem is everybody and their sister is doing ball reviews and honestly, they don't know what they are talking about . Keep doing what you are doing as it is concise, informative and does not insult our intelligence. Thank you for what you do and look forward to 2025. ( PS can you do one on the Outer Limits solid?)
TIME, is the most precious item in life. So I suggest you take votes on what viewers like to see and create content based on the votes. That way you can share specific limited videos, and still have time for the other projects.
You're reviews are great. I like the "who is this ball for" segment and is unique to your channel. Perhaps give a decent comparison to other similar balls in enough detail to where you won't feel obligated to review those others unless they are of particular interest to you.
What I like the most about your videos is the cross-brand comparisons, so I guess focus on that.
This is definitely one of my go-to sources for ball reviews and motion. I appreciate that the videos are concise and to the point.
One idea would be to add another person to the channel? Of course that would require some type of compensation for them, but it could help in lowering the amount of time you personally spend on filming the shots.
I feel a lot of bigger channels do a bunch of more casual content providing a more inviting experience.
Channels like yours, ZVL Bowling and Creating the Difference seem to be strictly informative about releases & gear, and while that’s great for people deep into the sport, it’s easy to lose a lot of a more casual viewership.
The two things I notice for bowling channel successes are:
If more on the informative side , try to make collaborative content. The House Bowling, JR Pro Shop, TV Bowling supply all have videos from 2 or more people consistently to achieve different perspectives. I feel this could help in many ways, one main one being the gathering of information with the ever more important 2 handed ball review.
That’d be a great move for your channel because you can pump out just as much content while splitting up the work, and have more of an engaging channel because (at least I find) the more of a group environment is presented, the more inviting it is to be a part of as an audience.
The other thing I’d recommend is to start adding some variety! Focus on ball reviews of course, that’s your bread and butter and you do it the best (in my opinion) with cross brand comparisons visualized. However the larger channels - Darren Tang, 220 Average, Forrest Kritzer, etc all tend to have a bit more fun with their content while still reviewing products.
Join a league and vlog, set silly challenges (like a wheel spin or head to head content with stakes), or other milestone goal content like when you Megaminded yourself!
I feel like I was watching EVERY review you during that span of 2 months when you prefaced every review until you hit that goal.
I feel finding a good balance between Professionalism & Casual love for the game will keep viewers excited on all spectrums.
Sorry for the book and I hope my opinion helps!
I think something like what Tamer reviews does. Having 2 or 3 different styles of bowlers like a stroker, tweener & cranker roll a few shots with the showcased ball or balls to see the different ball reactions from each bowler style so the viewer can see if that ball matches up with his or her game.
The main questions I have are:
Is the issue time oriented? Or money oriented?
I enjoy the channel and try to watch all the videos, along with liking and already subscribing. I also enjoy 10 pin tool kit and have referred it to anyone I talk to.
You averaged 1.5 videos a week which is really awesome but time consuming! I will say for myself, there are some bowling ball releases that I don't watch because I'm not interested in. I think doing a poll on reviews we want to see would be beneficial however a drawback to that is the time it'll take to produce a ball review would be longer (at least that's what I think it would).
Are there other people that can help you with other aspects of running the channel (throwing the ball, voice-overs, editing, etc)?
I appreciate the work you put into these reviews and look forward to seeing more!
Howdy Ben! I only joined your community this past July when I came back to bowling.
I love you channel, and feel your 5ish minute reviews are some of the best on YT. The added value of ball comparisons and what bowlers the ball might match up with are awesome.
I completely understand that there are just to many balls released to keep up with. Maybe start a poll the day new balls are announced to see what the community wants to see. Another good idea i seen in the comments is going live for some new reviews. I'd also take advantage of posting more in general on the community tab.
Also. Your channel has had amazing progress...
5k new subs since I subscribed at 7k.
Lane side reviews has been on YT 13 years and only has 7k more subs than you. The Hype blew up after 15k.
Keep your head up! Keep doing you, and we will keep up the likes and comments.
Would love to see more coaching tips….maybe ball type comparisons between brands..
I absolutely love your current format and would never even consider buying a ball before seeing your review on it, and whenever someone I know looks for a ball, I either recommend your channel, or dive into your video archives myself to research for them.
One thing I think you should DEFINITELY do, is link to your review videos on the Bowler's Paradise website. If someone is shopping for a ball, have a thumbnail for the review video below the big picture of the ball. Obviously, not everyone who watches a review video is going to buy that ball on your website, but everyone looking for a ball on your website is going to watch the review video.
Ben, i think there is a reason that you have garnered the amount of subscribers as you have. I think you doing what you want to do is what defines this channel. We are here as audiences, what you did in 2024 was consistent, precise and entertaining.
With that being said, have you considered doing like donation slot for your videos where you highlight the patreon donors and bowling a strike for them? Putting their names on the ball and bowling a strike?
Perhaps you could have a poll of your viewers top 5 bowling balls and you can give more insight between all the balls and at the end giving your personal ranking for the balls.
Perhaps doing some fun videos of different types of bowlers? Like clowning on the stereotype of bowlers you might see at an alley?
Regardless will be watching your videos with a smile on my face
Now thats! A bowler’s paradise!
Your reviews are the only ones I consistently watch, love em. Adding to the guys suggesting long form and more ads, you could expand on the preview videos a bit. Do reviews on 5-6 popular (you know what brands/releases get more views, like hammer, motif, etc) balls of the last month. Cross brand comparison is right there, you can make the arsenal and bowler type suggestions. Maybe even rank the balls in the review. Possibly give a quick verbal overview of the balls released that you don’t use in video.
How about instead of doing a review, maybe show how the ball performs in league/tournament play? Keep up the great work! 🙂
I will start by saying that I really enjoy your reviews and think you do a really good job at being impartial and honest with your evaluations of bowling balls. That's really refreshing and I enjoy it.
Perhaps one idea you could look into is what I see a lot in the various bowling groups I'm in and that is "how do I choose my first ball?" or "I'm just coming back into bowling, here's my stats, where do I go?" or "here's a good place to get started as a new/returning bowler." Something like that could be a good idea for how to come up with new content.
Looking forward to whatever you produce in 2025, I will certainly watch whatever pops up!
Your unique and detailed reviews are informative,and helpful in choosing and comparing different balls.
Keep up the good work, I'm looking forward to future reviews.
I don't know what the right answer is but i'll tell you this. As a fellow one handed no thumb bowler i definitely value your input on balls. Your cross brand comparisons and who you think would benefit from each ball has helped me a lot. First thing i do is watch your video on whatever ball i consider, even if i've already seen it but don't remember what you thought of it. I don't buy as many balls as i have over the past few years but your videos help me to decide what i want to buy!
Love your content. It's the only review I use when buying a ball. To ease the work load, I'd bring in some staffers that can obtain, drill and throw the balls for you. Then you can narrate the review.
Love the channel. I listen to your ball reviews while I bowl.
Someone beat me to it, but I agree you could do a poll when there is 4 or 5 new releases out to see which ones viewers are most interested in.
Thank YOU for providing the content and I hope you're are able to get out of it what you put in and more. This is just my suggestion, I will keep watching regardless :)
Personally I love the "this ball would work best for this kind of bowler" and I'd like to see those balls compared. No one else does that. These are the balls for speed dominant bowlers, these for rev dominant etc etc. There's an unfilled niche there.
Love what you do, thank you and I wish you all the success for 2025.
You have the best channels for reviews in my opinion, for me personally! I can't think of anything you can do better honestly. Love everything about your videos. But I understand they are hard to put out. I will say this though about the revenue, I run a TH-cam channel for the company I work with, and you need to make videos 8 minutes or longer to be able to put mid roll ads on videos. Then, you can place them manually throughout. Highly recommend always adding them manually. It increases revenue a TON. I would say make every video 8 minutes or longer if possible. You can triple your monthly revenue just from that. And be generous with the ads you put in, people are used to it, and as you know many people don't even watch the whole video, so you want to make sure you spread them throughout. As your making this content for us, and consistent, you deserve to make way more than that! You can make that in 2 months probably with the mid roll ads
This, more long form content, and offer online coaching which you can post as well
I love the cross brand reviews and the HONEST assessments of the ball and where it fits and what type of bowler would have the most success with it. If you put out a video I will watch it and like and try to comment. The companies are honestly just putting out too many balls. Most are just copies of something previously released.
Maybe just review the "best bowling balls", only the ones that are worth reviewing. And sometimes if a bowling ball is very popular, you can also review it and tell us why you don't like it. This way if we don't find an specific one in your channel we will know that it's not that good.
Another option is also review the best, and the rest just mention them in one vid with 1 or 2 things that you consider important.
This channel is very important for bowlers because you are a source of honest and objective information, bowling balls are not cheap at least in my country (Mexico) so I always try to figure out if something fits my playstyle before buying.
I don't bowl like you. I'm old school with my thumb in throwing up 2nd or 3rd arrow. But, I watch all reviews, I don't think I've missed one in over a year plus.
I don't want your format to change because I can watch a video in full, or go back and cut to what I wanna see again. I guess things always have to change and evolve and grow. Just keep plugging along you're doing great!
I had to make the switch a couple months ago to only reviewing the balls that I thought fit me better. Trying to review every single release before they came out was costing way too much time and money. Especially when we would get 7-8 balls on the same release day and only have a week to 10 days to get them all out before the release.
I am focusing more on new balls that I might actually throw instead of stuff that will never fit my game like the new Venom Hybrid that Motiv is about to drop. I decided today that I’m not even going to drill and review that one.
Keep doing what you are doing. If you want more views, you might need to do enter more tournaments. I’ve noticed success in tournaments builds subs among bowling channels. It can even be league night too.
Different looks with different styles. Views with different surface adjustments. Livestream Q&A, or other sorts of content?
Love your channel for bowling balls.reviews helped me alot. Love when you tell is if the bowling ball is for rev bowlers or non people who lack revs on the bowling coming out. Keep up the great work. Would love to see videos putting more revs or less revs on a bowling during league .
Love your reviews. I really like your recommendations for what type of bowler a ball will be best for. It has influenced a few of my purchases, and has worked out well. Keep doing what you're doing
I want to see your top ball of 2024 just like you did in december 2023.
many content creators have a Patreon following that helps financially support their efforts and then allows those participants to have more influence on the channel and it's content. I would not waste too much time with opinions from people passing by, get to know your devoted followers who put their money where their mouth is and actually can be helpful, instead of jeering and cynical all the time.
love your content and best of luck from Green Bay to any fellow Wisconsinite productions helping to advance knowledge in the sport of bowling, always entertaining to watch and learn!
Make a team of paradise bowlers to review more items so you can cover more ground. So it’s not only just you making all the videos I’m sure there’s a production team behind the scenes but I mean a team of people who review things.
LOVE YOUR REVIEWS NET TO CTD YOU HAVE PROBABLY SOME OF THE BEST INFO. MAYBE TEAM UP A FEW TIMES OR GO ON OTHER CHANNELS LIKE THE HYPE THROW A LITTLE MIX IN THERE AND HONESTLY CUTTING BACK ON SOME OF THE BALLS IS OK
Honestly you just need more viewers, also what I would do is focus on balls that are better promoted from there respected brands those will be the balls that sell the most and people wanna know about
Would love to see a variety of people throwing the balls. Women, seniors, etc.
Hey Ben, I love your channel. I think you do a great job on the reviews and you're the first guy I go to check out any new balls. I wish you had more time or had more support but I think your channel is already great so I don't know how it would improve. Just appreciate all you do and I'll keep watching, liking and commenting.
Ben, I’d like to lend out my hand to help with some reviews!
I like @Wewerescab idea but, i would also see if you can debut different bowlers using the same ball, if possible. This is to show the bowling balls usage with different styles. You throw with two fingers, no thumb like myself but, there are more traditional style bowlers and two handed bowlers. So, if you could show all three forms/styles, i think that could help as well.
And us full rollers, we get no love
I would say live stream league where you throw new pieces and talk during and/or after. Wouldn't need worry too much about production. Just tell us what you're seeing and layout used
You are my go to content creator when it comes to Ball Review. My suggestion maybe hire 1 or 2 people to review the ball to ease your workload and also just focus on the Bowling Ball review.
Thank you for your time and insight about these balls. Have you considered live stream (short one). To many balls to review. Considered a teammate with different ball.
I'd love bowling bag and shoe reviews
I personally am a low ball speed low tilt high rev 2 handed. From what i’ve seen, a lot of people who watch your reviews are similar in that sense. I personally love what you are currently doing and I don’t pick up a ball without checking out your channel first.
I think the biggest thing that could give your channel a push is TikTok. The platform is meant to boost your engagement and I think could greatly benefit your expansion. Being more accessible to the public is the number one way to get your revenue up.
A lot of your audience is younger guys such as myself. Getting on tiktok and even instagram more consistently will get your name out there. People have got a lot to learn from you as well. Perhaps if you ever take up some coaching, record it and post it. Similar to what Mark Baker and The Clean Up Crew are doing.
Knowledge is power my brother. N u have a lot of it. The cost of doing what u do isnt cheap or efficient. Id suggest some live streaming and membership packages. Ur channel is big enough for ppl to tune in. Id tune in and send some superchats to get some questions answered. Id pay for a membership to stand out in the crowd. Create a fan base to where u can see the ppl who show up all the time and believe in the channel. Put the time and energy into those ppl. I understand that charging ppl for knowledge is not what u set out to do. But theres a way of helping ppl, and making money while doing so. I’m sorry but i have received coaching. I can’t recall one session that was free. Knowledge is power.
I would like to see some left handed bowler content. We are out here.
I enjoy know what else is available for any given ball. If you don’t like this one then try this ball
Pls keep up the great work. Try n incorporate 3 styles like tamer bowling channel. Also do more of arsenal videos esp for sport patterns and also pls review shoes bags n ball cleaners etc. 😊
Of course, there's no right answer. Everyone has an opinion, and you know what generates revenue better than we do. IMHO: the review content area is flooded. Likewise, Rosedahl has the market share of "technical" area covered while others do what they can to keep up. What I don't see much of is "this is how you maintain a coverstock week in and week out. Beginner bowlers should do XYZ to get better. This ball is value for the beginner because..." Elite EZ Hook video, to me, was content you don't get anywhere else. Thanks!
Yeah we defo missed out on the Star S2 review
Let’s be real: most of us aren’t good enough that the differences between a Mesmerize and an Ion Max would affect our scores if we didn’t know which one we were throwing. Videos that focus on matching balls (or ball categories) to oil patterns and play styles better would be great. For example, I’m slightly speed dominant at 16-17 mph off-the-hand and 250 RPM. My precision at the arrows is often off by up to 4 boards left and right, so forgiveness where I can find it is needed. I bowl at lanes where the oil pattern is long, flatish, and heavy, and I can barely get a 1000 abralon sanded Pure Envy to hook. I’m at a total loss as to what to do about that.
Ben, I’m an avid amateur bowler, a HS bowling coach and I’ve been working in marketing for 25+ years. And I probably watched over 100 hours of review videos last year between you, BrunsNick, CTD, Tang bros and others.
I think you have three niches where you could easily own one, two or all three. One, given that you’re already a no-thumb bowler, you’re well position to corner that market (including 2 handers). While I realize every bowler is different, my sense is some balls are just going to be better suited to that style of bowling, so stick to the most intriguing releases for that crowd.
Two, I watch these videos for fun, but also to be educated, and I have to say, the education is underwhelming. I watch people throw shots all the time and then use jargon like “smooth,” “continuous” and “picks up in the midlane,” but if I’m being honest, when I watch current videos on the market it’s hard to see any real difference. Maybe more advanced bowlers can, but as someone who has bowled for 40 years and averages 200 in league, I can not. Zoom in and do tight shots that show the differences. Provide more data on breakpoint, etc. With cross-brand reviews (which I also love that you do), particularly with a video production company, lay shots over each other so we can really see the difference.
Lastly, this juice might not be worth the squeeze, but offer “build an arsenal” videos for a fee. I for one would be happy to pay some amount to say “Here’s what I have. Here’s what I’m trying to do. What do I need to do to build a better arsenal?” You could reuse video from previous tapings to enhance your recommendations.
Honestly, I love trying to help entrepreneurs ideate, so if you’re interested in any further discussion, let me know.
GO GREEN! Ben are you in Mi?
I'm actually in WI. One of my best friends took me to the MI State vs. MI homecoming game a few years back and it was one of the best sporting events i'd ever witnessed. Been a fan of the Green and White since.
@@bowlersparadise2255belated welcome to the family. Go White!!
You probably need a couple of volunteers to help keep up with the crushing number of releases.
I would like to see more different styles with the ball review
You mentioned that drilling is a cost. Would getting a drill press be a worthwhile investment? Or work out a deal with your PSO for free drilling in place of ads or be a sponsor?
Maybe do something for senior bowlers
I don’t know where to find the answer but I know when you bowl a 300 you submit what ball you accomplished it with and that to me will be how you find out way was the true ball of the year
Just skimming through the comments, and I know this is a hard problem to solve, but it does seem like conducting a poll on what to review may work ahead of reivews, and perhaps including more comparisons (in a concise, informative fashion) within one video may help with trying to keep up. But if getting your hands on the equipment is tough, do a poll and curate the content to be a demonstration and then maybe trying the equipment on different patterns? I also see a few inputs about how you suggest the ball for different types of bowlers and that being wanted, that should remain.
Finally, since you are a coach, perhaps tying in some coaching with the curated equipment on different shots could be a decent, well rounded review that is not much seen at the moment. Also, I think you should throw in more transactional fun videos like MegaMind, not so much it saturates, but setting stretch goals for subscribes and or likes and then doing the video for fun yet being true to the channel would be amazing.
I love this channel and will continue to support. Keep up the good work. And even though you are a Spartan fan (for me Go Blue!) I will continue to watch and be excited to see what comes next!
Oh, and if you can find people to help with the videos, that would be helpful if it is a time constraint thing. I know that is tough considering the delegation.
Love watching your videos. Might not be time efficient but watching "out of box" reviews is less helpful to us then seeing what the ball looks like at say game 20. You sound to busy for this suggestion but I thought I"d throw it out there.
It might be nice to see other bowlers on your channel. Perhaps a slower senior and a young new bowler for you to coach a bit.
Maybe a partnership or a merger ?
I took away two things from your video time and money. For the time piece, i would suggest doing a month end review set of videos. In total, i would do three videos at the end of the month for the releases that happened in that month. One video for the symmetric pieces with two parts surface and non surface. Keep each ball review down to a couple of times going down the lane a review of the numbers and the most important part you bring to each ball review, the bowler type you feel that match up best with each ball. At the end, line up the bowling balls and talk quickly about strength, differences and commonality and your opinions. Should be no more than 7 to 12 minutes total for each video. Do the same for asymmetric category. The third category do urethane and hybrids. 3 videos each month drop them at the end of each month and now your at 36 videos for the year.
For the revenue side maybe sell subscription based content for deeper dives into certain bowling balls that you know are going to be big in the market. You can plug those bowling balls at the end of your three videos each month.
Hope this helps. I watch every bowling ball review you do and hope you keep it going.
No idea how to make the videos profitable but assuming they are meant to drive traffic to the website; I have thought about ordering from BP many times but stopped myself because they don't offer legit drilling. I get several balls a year from another store, drilled to my exact specifications, and they only charge $10 for two finger drills and inserts. If Bowlers Paradise offered $10 2-finger drilling I would be far more inclined to buy there.
Just review SPI/MOTIV/Brunswick/Hammer maybe Track the other brands are almost irrelevant at this point
Basically the juice isn't worth the squeeze. YT is a hobby not your life blood. Gotta take care of yourself (family) first and get paid for your time (hence committing fully to own business). If you continue...produce less, put behind a pay wall, diehards will follow, throw a freebie out occasionally. Be more selective with ball choices, maybe ask local PS what best selling ball is that month (or run a poll like someone else suggested) and make a longer form review with multi cam angles and lane patterns. Bowling is a tough "genre" to be lucrative. It's a passion project.
Go Green!
Go White! (This is Ben's opinion, not representative of Bowlers Paradise lol)
GO GREEN! GO WHITE!
I try not to leave comments, but you asked ... Your business is very competitive, you have high quality work ... but it;'s too cookie cutter. It's like your rushing to complete the video so you can make the next one. Relax and choose what you want to review, or what we would like to see, less videos, higher quality. As a viewer, I'm not interested in all the videos you make, ala carte for me. Look at Savage Geese, he makes car videos, but his style is pleasant and the quality is at par for being a top seed YT content creator. That's how you get to the top. Experiment with new ideas!
don't review all of them. Just the ones you like. thats fine with me.
You guys should review swag balls
In all seriousness have different people toss in the ball not just you. Multiple angles from different people. I don't want to just see strikes I wanna a ball that really sucks continue to suck with multiple people toss in them. Long story short hype hype hype best ball if all time BS. MOTIV exj limited venom worst money I spent on my first brand new ball and then I know 6 other bowler whom got this ball as well as two loyal MOTIV bowlers they said this ball was the worst. Not every has a 525 rev rate on a ball like me Tackett.not try in it take anything away from him but most bowlers high 200 to maybe 450 rev rate. Of course the ball looks great but thus is not the average league bowler. This is why I say allow others ti toss the ball LH RH two hand ect etc. I do love but it gets to be the same old reviews with you. I get it its your program but there are so many ball revives by others its nuts. Then even better this guy say great ball another person beats its terrible. I do understand not every ball fits someone's arsenal keep up the great videos thus just my assumption