Neil Koch walked away from a good job 4 miles from his house at almost 50 to go full time on YouTube. His channel, Dig Drive DIY, sits at 348,000 subscribers, and it started with videos of a backhoe he was trying to sell on Craigslist. He drove 6 hours from northeast Indiana to tell us the whole story.DIG DRIVE DIY ➱ https://www.youtube.com/@digdrivediyNeil was a farmhand at 14 on a culti-mulcher, then worked weekends on a 700 sow farrow to feeder operation. After that came three 10 year careers. He ran heavy equipment out of high school, spent about 10 years fitting some of the first hydraulic auto steer systems on tractors, then 10 more as an agronomist. Years later, a clip of his buddy Jack side loading a dozer racked up 7 or 8 million views and had him monetized before he ever made a video on purpose. He has now posted 250 or 260 Sunday videos in a row without missing one.Then we got into why people actually watch. Neil says it’s a look at rural, blue collar, middle class life that mainstream TV quit showing, and foreign viewers tell him all the time they’re glad this America still exists. We also got into the hard parts: young people with no house to get started in, farmhouses getting leveled when ground sells, and 10 bad comments that outweigh 1,000 good ones.Also in this one: the backyard swimming pond that hit trending, why he heats with firewood when he has propane, small towns getting coffee shops and butcher shops back, a professor pitching Google in 1999, what he tells his 15 year old daughters, and running a John Deere scraper again after 20 years.“I finally decided I’m going to be an idiot if I don’t. Like, what am I waiting on?”What’s the project you’d buy a backhoe for? Drop it in the comments and we read them.JOIN THE BARN TALK NEWSLETTER & GET LIVE EVENT ACCESS: We’re on a mission to get 10,000 subscribers, and once we do, we’re hosting a live event at the barn! Sign up to get exclusive access to tickets and details.👇🏻Help us get there: https://www.joinbarntalk.comTHIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY:● Iowa Corn ➱ https://www.iowacorn.orgTIMESTAMPS: SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST ➱ https://bit.ly/3a7r3nRSUBSCRIBE TO THIS’LL DO FARM ➱ https://bit.ly/2X8g45cLISTEN ON:SPOTIFY ➱ https://open.spotify.com/show/3icVr4KWq4eUDl7Oy60YMYAPPLE ➱ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/barn-talk/id1574395049FOLLOW BEHIND THE SCENES 👇🏻● Barn Talk Instagram ➱ https://www.instagram.com/barntalkshow● Barn Talk TikTok ➱ https://bit.ly/3qciekS● Sawyer’s Instagram ➱ https://bit.ly/3BtX0n4● Tork’s Instagram ➱ https://bit.ly/3LGZJxS● Sawyer’s X ➱ https://x.com/SawyerWhisler● Tork’s X ➱ https://x.com/TorkWhisler⚠NO FINANCIAL ADVICE / DISCLAIMER⚠Barn Talk is for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only, with no warranty of accuracy or completeness. Nothing here is financial, investment, or trading advice, and none of it is specific to you. Do your own due diligence and consult a licensed professional before making any financial decision. Trading stocks, crypto, and NFTs carries real risk and is not suitable for everyone. You use this information at your own risk.#IowaCorn #EP222Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices