How the Botez Sisters grew beyond chess (and why your niche is only the beginning)
The chess hype faded, but the Botez Sisters didn't. Here's how they tested new formats, launched multiple channels, and avoided burnout. And why your first niche doesn't have to be your last.
The Botez Sisters built one of the largest chess content brands back when the chess hype was at its peak. When the hype disappeared, their channel didn't disappear along with it. Instead, they've expanded their brand beyond just streaming chess on Twitch.
In a VidSummit panel hosted by Sachin Kumar of OpusClip, the Botez Sisters broke down how they rode the chess hype, knew when it was time to move on, tested new formats before committing, and juggled multiple channels without burning out.
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Who are the Botez Sisters?
Alex started streaming on Twitch while she was in college. After a few of her videos went viral organically, she noticed something: chess was a strength that set her apart from almost everyone else making content, so she leaned into it.
She chose Twitch because live streaming made it easier to stay consistent and build a community that showed up for her week after week.
Andrea joined when she was young. She faced her fair share of skepticism about content creation, but when COVID hit, she committed fully to live streaming.
Chasing trends and what to do with the aftermath
If you've been with YouTube for a long time, you'll know that the eras of YouTubers come and go. The reply girls (anyone remember them?), the 'prank your boyfriend/girlfriend' trend, or when Casey Neistat came onto the scene and suddenly everyone wanted to become a daily vlogger.
Sachin Kumar said, "The point is that with every era, there was always a winning format that everyone followed until the next one came about."
It was how the Botez Sisters rose to fame during the pandemic, when chess was prominent. They realized they were at the peak of the trend, especially with the release of Queen's Gambit, and went all in on chess live streams.
"You can't out effort what you'll get when something is really trending. So if your niche is trendy, make sure you make the most of it because it doesn't last forever.
- Alex Botez
If you've chased after a trend without putting much thought on what will happen when it inevitably ends, you're going to be in a rough situation.
And it makes you ask yourself: "Are people watching for me or for the content?" If it's the latter, you'll feel like you have to go after another trend just to get their attention back.
To prevent that, you mustn't only chase trends, but you need to cultivate your community.
- Reply to comments with more than a "thanks for watching!"
- Are you asking them questions pertaining to the topic?
- Are you using YouTube's Shorts comment reply?
- Put a personal spin on the trend
- Think about what you would like to see that you haven't seen anyone else done before
- If your content in interchangeable with other channels, then how will viewers get to know about you?
- Live stream on your channel and participate in others
- Having a direct communication with your viewers is the best way to get them to come back for you, and not the content
With the Botez Sisters, they were able to build a core audience through their live streams. There's a connection they've made with their Twitch chat that even when their views on YouTube and other platforms weren't as great, they still had a strong base to work off of.
How the Botez Sisters pivoted beyond chess
The Botez Sisters understood that the chess hype didn't last, so they tried everything in chess content. They went through every chess podcast, tried every chess prank idea, every way a collab could be done with chess, and even created a chess video game.
After a couple years of grinding chess, they couldn't chess anymore. The Botez Sisters always wanted to start their podcast, so they saw this as a sign from the universe. They were now in a position where they didn't need to stream chess just to grind and could expand.
Before they created a separate channel for the podcast, they slowly tested the waters on their main channel. They started with a couple different video of the podcast where they sat and talked about daily life.
They even started testing podcast Shorts. When it started outperforming their chess Shorts, they took this as a sign that there was enough interest in the content, and committed to a new channel.
This then led Alex and Andrea to creating their other channels for DJ, poker, and vlog.
For Andrea, she found a way to connect her chess audience to DJ by streaming herself playing chess while DJing. It's an interesting mix that gets viewer's attention, similar to chess boxing.
From Jenny Hoyos's panel at VidSummit (and Created), she said to mix the known with the unknown. This is exactly what Andrea Botez did, and it eventually got her first viral hit for her DJ channel.
But not every channel needs to exist. Alex Botez admits that her poker channel stopped after 4 videos, and that some of those videos would have performed better on the main channel.
How to manage multiple channels without burning out
Andrea recalled the time when it felt like everyone was starting a podcast. And let's be honest... creators are still making podcasts whenever they have a chance.
"If you look now, a couple of years later down the road, a lot of those podcasts have ended because we realized you don't really have the bandwidth to stream, making YouTube videos, and have a pod."
- Andrea Botez
Having multiple channels can be both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, you're not bound to one niche forever and have more creative freedom. On the other, if you can't help comparing your new content to your old numbers, you'll be disappointed in the result.
Doing something new almost always means fewer views and less initial success, you must be mentally prepared for "L's". The Botez Sisters get fewer viral numbers than during the chess peak, but they're less burnt out and are the most excited about content in years.
They do this by judging their success in two key metrics:
- Did you enjoy making it?
- Are you building a recurring community, even if small?
Then there's the system of the Botez Sisters: add at least 10 - 15 timestamps to each live stream and podcast, then give it to their editor to create Shorts to post across platforms.
They also use OpusClip to surface the best clips quickly and ideate at scale. It also helps them resurface old, underperforming episodes when topics trend again.
"For example, we had on a female serial killer crime specialist YouTuber. That episode underperformed, and then with a recent case, it was trending again. OpusClip has actually helped us pull out Shorts and even tell us, 'hey, this is trending.'
- Alex Botez
Their editor also uses OpusClip's AI Producer, which makes it easier for them to edit. If they're looking for something in their video, they can ask AI Producer to find the moment.
"Our editor in particular said it's helpful for changing backgrounds and graphics."
- Alex Botez
Note that AI outputs still require human QA as the accuracy isn't perfect, but it improves with use and correction.
What can you do every week to experiment more?
Sachin closed the panel by asking both sisters for one thing creators could do on a weekly basis to experiment more with their channels.
"I think the biggest one for me is like schedule it in. We always talk about things we want to do, but it's if it's not in the calendar, you're so busy with your day to day that it's not going to happen. Set the goal, block it off in your calendar, and know that's when you're doing it that day."
- Alex Botez
Andrea took it a step further. Don't just schedule time to make things. Schedule time to think.
"When it comes to calendaring a new video, I used to never think about taking time to ideate ideas, giving myself hours to just brainstorm, look at content that might not even be related to what I'm doing. And by this, I don't mean doom scrolling on reels and calling it productive."
- Andrea Botez
Right now, she's producing a music video, so she's been studying cinematic YouTubers who film everything themselves and break down how they get their shots. Watching how other creators work and taking notes, even outside your niche, is research.
What KDCC took from the Botez Sisters is...
Empowerment.
A lot of creators struggle with their niche, especially when they're starting out. Maybe they want to cook, but they also want to game. Some might feel pressured to merge two niches together just to appease their fancy. Others will simply post gaming and cooking on the same channel, then complain that their channel's not growing.
We've been telling creators it's okay to make multiple channels. You don't have to merge two niches together (if that's not what you want). Instead, you can create two channels, one for cooking and the other for gaming.
Then experiment.
See which one you like more and can create for a long time.
And just like the Botez Sisters, once you feel like you've gone through every single possibility... you're not barred from switching focus.
Not every college student graduates with the major they started in. Some go through 1 - 3 years before realizing it's not what they want to do. This is the same for YouTube.
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