Is There Room for Another Dad Who Knows How to Do Stuff?

Blogging, family, humor, lessons learned, Teaching and Education 2 Minutes

Rob Kenney’s father left him and his seven siblings when he was fourteen years old, and the youngest had to fend for themselves. He wished that he had someone who could teach him the basics—how to tie a tie, jump-start a car, unclog a drain, use tools properly—as well as succeed in life. But he and his siblings had to figure these things out on their own.

Now a father himself, Rob decided that he would help people out by providing how-to tips as well as advice—and even throw in some bad dad jokes. He started a YouTube channel (Dad, How Do I) for anyone looking for fatherly advice, and in the course of three months, gained a following of nearly 2.5 million subscribers, with millions of views for his how-to and inspirational videos. (from the Amazon page that features his Dad, How Do I book).

His YouTube channel currently has 3.4 million subscribers, with his videos on how to tie a tie, how to shave, and how to fix a running toilet all having over one million views each. The videos are quite well done. You can read a wonderful tribute to Rob at Pete Springer’s outstanding blog.

So when I saw those numbers, I started to wonder if there is room for another Dad, How Do I channel on YouTube. I was thinking I could call it, Father, Could You Please Elucidate On

Since Kenney already has all the good topics wrapped up, I needed to think of some less popular topics that I might be uniquely qualified to pontificate on, After some soul searching, I came up with the following list:

  • Father, Could You Please Elucidate On How to Write a Blog That Earns No Money
  • Father, Could You Please Elucidate On How to Sneak Out of a Party So That No One Notices
  • Father, Could You Please Elucidate On How to Calculate the Future Value of an Annuity of $1 per year for the next 30 Years at an Annual Compounding Rate of 10%
  • Father, Could You Please Elucidate On How to Calculate the Annual Depreciation Expense of an Asset That Cost $100,000, Has a Salvage Value of $2,000, and a Useful Life of Five Years, Using the Double Declining Balance Method
  • Father, Could You Please Elucidate On How Oreos Are Part of a Healthy Vegan Diet
  • Father, Could You Please Elucidate On How to Run a Personal Training Studio That Loses Money Every Year
  • Father, Could You Please Elucidate On How to Be Comfortable Wearing Clothes That Went Out of Fashion 30 Years Ago

I’m sure there are many more topics that I could come up with, but I figured I’d wait to see what kind of reception there is for these first few.

I mean, even if I only got half the views that Kenney gets, I’d call it a success.

And then I could probably create a How To video on how I did that…

 

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

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35 thoughts on “Is There Room for Another Dad Who Knows How to Do Stuff?”

  3. Your post makes me think of old TV shows where the parents always seem to have all the answers. Some had the title right in the show’s name like, “Father Knows Best,” starring Robert Young. Another show I liked as a kid but always thought was a bit corny was Leave it to Beaver, as Ward and June always seemed to have all the answers. I have a question for them from Beaver: “Father, could you please elucidate on how we came to be since the two of you always slept in twin beds?”

    By the way, I wrote a post about Rob Kenney back in December: https://petespringerauthor.wordpress.com/2020/12/18/what-makes-a-hero-meet-rob-kenney/

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    1. we could aska question of a lot of the families from the sitcoms of the fifties and sixties.

      I remember that wonderful post of yours, I should have had a link to it one – I’ve put one there now. Subliminally, that may have been one what sparked me to write this post!

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  5. brilliant! I’m sure you’ll be a huge hit! p.s. I could help with question 2- how to slide out of a party? as an introvert, I’m all about the Irish goodbye.- it’s amazing

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  6. Thanks for sharing, I can see why the channel got so popular so quickly, it’s in my opinion a much needed service, and also pretty simple with the topics so you know what you’re getting. I like the headache inducing names for your channel!

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  9. LOL. With two teenagers, I’m constantly being shown videos. I’m amazed at ways people make their living as youtubers. There’s one guy who just destroys cars and trucks. I’ve never watched an accounting video before. I imagine it would be riveting.

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  12. Those are all great topics to cover. But I’m surprised that Rob Kenney found such amazing success with “how to” posts. Alexa and other virtual personal assistants seem to have that covered. If you proceed, I’d like a post on how to get be noticed at a party.

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