Why I have been producing TYPO3 content every week for 16 years

There is a lot of talk about technology in the TYPO3 community. About TypoScript, Fluid, site sets, deployment. But rarely about what happens when you stay visible for years. What sticking with it does. And why most people stop at some point.

This is my story. 16 years of content production, unplanned, without a strategy, for the sheer joy of it. And at the end, a few thoughts on why visibility is worthwhile for anyone working independently in this industry.

2010: Training videos on DVD

I was 14 in the mid-80s and sat in front of my first computer. A Commodore C64. My father needed a calculation program for his quotations, so I wrote one. During my training as a nurse, computers remained my hobby. I created my first websites on the side.

In 2005, the hobby became a side business. I implemented smaller websites with TYPO3 and taught customers how to maintain their content themselves. To do this, I recorded short training videos, burned them to DVD and gave them to the customers.

That's how it all began.

The first TYPO3 course on YouTube

I was ready in 2010. I had acquired solid knowledge over the years and wanted to pass it on. At the time, there was nothing comparable to TYPO3 in German on YouTube.

So I just did it.

It went down well. Really well, in fact. The second edition of the course followed in 2012. Through YouTube and social media, I was able to make a name for myself in the TYPO3 community. I already had a lot of followers on Twitter back then. When Twitter was still cool and good.

48 hours that changed everything

In mid-2012, I realized that something had to change. Either I change careers or I run the risk of burnout as a nurse.

At some point, I wrote a short blog article and posted on Twitter that I was looking for a new job. Within 24 hours, Jochen Weiland had contacted me: "Let's talk."

We met, talked, and within a very short time it was clear: I'm moving to jweiland.net at the end of the year and quitting my job at the hospital.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jochen Weiland by name. He gave me a chance back then. As a career changer who had no training in the IT sector and had taught himself everything.

I was at jweiland.net for almost nine years. A very long time for me. During this time, I created 300 to 400 TYPO3 videos for the website of jweiland.net website. Most of them are still available there today.

My wife said afterwards that I seem much happier now that I'm out of hospital. That was positive for our family life, for the children.

The whole thing wouldn't have been possible if I hadn't been so active on YouTube and social media. I'm sure of that.

14 years later: still here

14 years have passed since then. The numbers have grown:

• Over 600 videos about TYPO3 on YouTube
• Almost 3 years of weekly Twitch streams (83 of them available as recordings on YouTube)
• Blog since 2010, sometimes several articles per week
• Newsletter for years
• Accompanied over 1,200 customers

If I'm honest: I never had a concrete plan behind all this. No content strategy document, no editorial calendar in the early years. I just had fun doing it.

And that's what drives me to this day. Fun is my main factor. If something is no longer fun, I usually stop at some point.

A commercial hobby

I like to call it my commercial hobby. This whole industry, everything to do with TYPO3, is so much fun that I don't really have any other hobbies apart from archery, watching soccer from time to time and cycling now and again.

And I'm rarely offline. I'm currently working on this article on the sofa. Feet up, laptop on my lap, shortly after 10 pm in the evening. Not because I have to. But because I want to.

The last one standing

In 16 years, I've seen many come and go. Others started with YouTube channels, blogs or TYPO3 tutorials. Some have lasted a few months, some a few years.

In fact, as far as I know, I'm the only one who has kept it up over this long period of time. Who is still at it. And is still enthusiastic about it.

Why did the others stop? Maybe the hoped-for success didn't come quickly enough. Maybe it was more work than expected. Perhaps life circumstances have changed: Children, job changes, an agency that no longer does TYPO3.

These are all understandable reasons. But if you only see content as a marketing tool, you will stop at some point. Those who do it for fun will stay.

Everything has grown, nothing is planned

In addition to content, a lot has grown over the years. Not because I planned it strategically, but because it happened.

TYPO3 Usergroup Lake Constance (2012): There was nothing here on Lake Constance, so I looked for people to join in and found a few. So we founded it.

t3forum.net: Originally only intended for video course participants. It went so well that I made it public. What always annoyed me about other forums: People ask a question, find the solution and then just write "Done it" without sharing the solution. In my forum, I make sure that this doesn't happen. If you find a solution, you share it.

TYPO3 Education Committee (since 2022): As a member of the TCCI Task Force, I work with the team on the exam questions and syllabus for the Integrator certification. So we don't just define what TYPO3 integrators should be able to do, we also test them.

What I have learned from this

If I had to boil down 16 years of content production to a few sentences, it would be these:

Visibility is not a luxury, it's a foundation. No one can book you if no one knows you. No matter how good you are. Of course, there are people who only live from word of mouth. But these are exceptions, not the rule.

It doesn't have to be perfect. My first YouTube course wasn't particularly good technically. It still worked because the content was right and there was nothing else like it. If you wait until everything is perfect, you'll never get started.

Sticking with it beats everything. It's not the individual video, not the one blog article, not the one social media post that makes the difference. It's the sum of years. Anyone who quits after three months because the numbers don't add up hasn't understood the game.

It has to be fun. That's the most important point. If you only see content as a marketing tool, you will stop at some point. Those who do it for fun will stay. It's as simple as that.

If you're a TYPO3 integrator or freelancer, consider whether it's worth becoming more visible: Yes, it's worth it. In any case. Whether through YouTube, helpful blog articles on your own website, activity in forums or on social media. There are a thousand possibilities.

Just get started. And then keep at it.