To complement his social media activity on Facebook, Instagram and other platforms, Devon based power equipment dealer, James Hayes, has established a dedicated You Tube channel during the past 12 months which has had over 400,000 views to date.

To help achieve this, James has taken on filmmaker Will Evans, a university graduate and Royal Television Society Award winner.

The portfolio of more than 75 films on the Hayes Machinery You Tube channel include product reviews, How To videos, restoration videos and comparison videos covering garden machinery, chainsaws, ATVs, trailers and power tools as well as ‘tongue in cheek’ productions.

“It’s important we place our personality at the heart of the videos” says James but adds that he is still on a learning curve.

He engages all the Hayes staff in the production and encourages their ideas for future content.

In conversation with Chris Biddle for the Inside Agri-Turf podcast, James talks about the time it takes to script, film and edit each video, the cost of high-quality equipment, the initial minimal return apart from greater consumer awareness – and any problems he has with negative feedback. “I’ve got a thick skin” he says “and don’t mind criticism but do draw the line at the malicious or offensive comment”

“It is time consuming” he says “but we’ve invested heavily in the channel and dug our hole, so we have to keep tunnelling”

James has connected with many You Tubers throughout the world and says he gets a great deal of help and advice from the community

Hayes You Tube channel