- So, by now you may have seen the controversial article
from Bloomberg that says this,
Success on YouTube still means a life of poverty,
and that, even if you have a million views,
you still might not be able to pay your rent.
- Is it true?
Can you still make out on YouTube in 2018?
We're gonna be sharing our thoughts on this article,
and three tips, coming up.
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Hey, what's up, Sean here. - Benji here.
- And this is Video Influencers.
Helping you build your influence, income, and impact
with online video.
- On this channel, we have weekly tips videos,
as well as interviews with some of the
top influencers on this platform.
So, if you're new here, consider subscribing.
- So, Chris Stokel wrote this article on Bloomberg,
and if you wanna check it out, we'll link to it
in the description below.
But, we've highlighted a few quotes from it
that we just wanna talk about in this video.
- First quote is,
"Do your children dream of YouTube stardom?
"Do them a favor: crush that ambition now."
- Hoo! - Wow.
- Brutal.
- Yeah, super brutal.
And, you know, I think it's very unfair
to make a statement like that, because,
of course, a lot of people are thinking about
the Logan Paul's, the Casey Neistat's, the Superwoman.
People that are mega stars.
But, evidence on this channel, YouTube is filled
with so many different success stories
at so many different levels.
So again, this article is just focusing purely
on that top few percent that get tons of views,
and not really putting into context all
the different types of creators on this platform.
- And, we believe that you, of course, have to be practical,
and that, you know, success on YouTube's not
a guarantee, but to actually just say,
Crush your children's ambition of making it on YouTube.
Man, there's a lot of places that are hard to make it.
I don't know, it's a little extreme, but let's keep reading.
- Next quote is:
"96.5% of all of those trying to become YouTubers
"won't make enough money off of advertising
"to crack the US poverty line".
- And you know, Benji, I actually, I agree with this,
but again, it's the angle of the article that's
a little bit on that negative pessimistic side.
Because, on Video Influencers,
we talk about this all the time.
True, if you only rely on advertising, YouTube ads,
you probably are doomed to a life of poverty.
But, that's why on our channel, we always talk about
making money in other ways.
And the cool thing is, the article does go on to talk about
the demonetization policy.
About how you need 4,000 hours of watch time,
a thousand subscribers.
But nothing is holding anybody back from making money
with affiliate marketing, from brand deals,
from selling your own stuff, coaching, speaking,
all these other ways.
And, we actually have a series out of lots
of different ways to make money on YouTube.
If you wanna check that out, we'll link it up
on the YouTube card, and in the description below.
- And when it comes to monetizing,
we have a unique viewpoint on this,
because, from the 100 plus interviews,
we've literally never met an Influencer that
literally relies on just AdSense.
We're talking from 10 million, to, like 10,000 subscribers,
and that's really important to keep in mind, because, again,
this article is talking just about AdSense,
when literally, that's like, 10% or less
of a lot of people's income, because
there are so many better opportunities.
Again, this doesn't highlight all those opportunities
that people take advantage of, especially
when they're just starting out on YouTube.
- Okay, the third thing we wanna highlight here is, it says,
"Breaking through is harder than ever,
"and that the top 3% of the most-viewed
"YouTube channels are drawing in an increasing share
"of overall viewership, making it tougher for the masses".
So, when I question this here is,
yeah there's some data from this research,
but what does the top 3% of channels mean?
YouTube recently announced that there's over 1.5 billion
monthly logged-in users, and if they're logged in,
then that means they actually have a channel, right?
They have a YouTube channel, so I'm not sure
if they're counting that, but if it's 3%
of 1.5 billion, that is a lot of YouTube channels
that are still crushing it.
- Specifically 45 million.
But even at half, or a quarter, that's still a lot
of people on YouTube that's doing pretty well.
Again, and that's only taking in account that 3%.
I mean, that's the thing about YouTube,
it's a massive platform, and what are these viewers doing?
Are these viewers just, you know, watching videos
and not really being active?
Are they actually uploading videos, but maybe
more of a hobby, or like a side passion?
You know, that's the thing, we try to highlight people
that are hustling and working it,
and this is just taking everybody
and putting it into one little bucket.
- Totally.
And again, as you mentioned, what are they actually doing?
Do they have a strategy?
Are they consistent?
Have they persevered?
Do they have a business model?
YouTube is not a guaranteed place of success.
But, if you approach YouTube strategically,
with a niched focused channel, with real intentionality.
Definitely most people don't, and so those numbers
are a little bit skewed.
- Next quote is:
"Tom Burns, founder of Summer in the City, an annual
"British YouTube convention, said his cousin wanted to
"skip college to become a full-time YouTuber.
"I almost flipped out, because I was like, no,
"that's the dumbest thing you can say, he said.
"You can't guarantee you'll be able to do it as a job."
- Now, what I'd say to that is,
you can't guarantee any success in any venture.
And, I'd argue that, there's tons more entrepreneurial
ventures and businesses that you can start,
that would cost so much more, that you wouldn't have
any kind of guaranteed success.
But on YouTube, you have the opportunity to at least
start, and have it be absolutely free
to upload your first video.
- Completely.
You know it's funny, you can't guarantee
that this will be a job.
What about college?
Like, what about university?
You know, there's plenty of people leaving college
with $50,000, $100,000, $150,000 in debt,
and this stat from Washington Post says that
only 62% of US college graduates had a job
that required their degree.
So, there's 40% that just missed out
on all that money they spent.
It also said, that just 27% of college grads
had a job that closely related to their major.
So, three out of four college grads
are not even actually utilizing all of that,
and that stacked up all that, man.
Where as on YouTube, you do need maybe a little bit of
start-up investment, but if you have a Smart Phone,
if you have an Internet connection,
you can start posting and potentially generating income.
Not to mention, Bloomberg themselves wrote a stat
about small businesses, that said eight out of 10
entrepreneurs who start a business fail
within the first 18 months.
A whopping 80% crash and burn.
So when we read this article, it's kinda like,
Oh, YouTube is this, you know, poverty is coming your way.
It's just like these other things.
It is similar to a lot of other things,
but we actually think that YouTube has a ton of advantages
over some of these other pathways to success.
- Also, you know, he mentions you can't guarantee
you'll be able to do it as a job.
See, that's the thing, I wouldn't think
about YouTube as a job.
Not only is it a passion, but it is a business, right?
You need to treat it like a business.
And, it's not like someone's gonna give you a paycheck.
I think that's probably one of the biggest things that
stands out to me, 'cause you have to be an entrepreneur.
You have to think outside of the box, because,
you know what, the new digital age
is forcing people to do that.
And I think YouTube has so many resources,
so many tools for you to be able to do that,
and he's, again, not highlighting that.
He's thinking, like a job, which is a first mistake.
- Totally.
And, one of things we wanna encourage you guys,
in the Influencers community, is also,
it's kinda weird to even think about YouTube as a job,
and a lot of ways, YouTube is just a distribution platform.
Like, when we interviewed Andrew Edwards, he said
stop calling yourself a YouTuber.
You're a content creator.
You might be an entertainer.
You might be a teacher.
You're an educator.
And, a lot of ways, I'm not a YouTuber on ThinkMedia TV,
I am an online video educator that helps people
learn about cameras and lighting.
YouTube just happens to be the channel that I do that on.
Helping people find cameras, helping people find lighting.
And, so if you have some other kind of business model,
which is what we recommend you build,
then you would be outside of this, kind of,
very narrow doom-and-gloom piece
about using YouTube just as a job.
- Next quote is:
"People trying to make it on YouTube have long complained
"the company protects a handful of stars,
"promoting them at the expense of the masses
"struggling to break out."
Now, the first thing I'll tell you is this,
I go to YouTube Headquarters, and I know that
they wanna create the best platform for everybody involved.
Secondly, YouTube's free, so they don't owe
anybody anything.
You can upload videos for free,
you have an archive library of videos,
and they're the second more used search engine in the world.
So, was is there to really complain about?
- Completely.
And, you know, complaining is really not a strategy.
I mean, I guess you could complain all day long
that YouTube's promoting their stars,
and that is probably true, because YouTube is a business,
they're trying to make ad revenue, they're trying to
promote the content that's gonna generate views, and give
them more opportunity for ad revenue.
But, as we mentioned, it's a distribution platform.
Like, you have this chance to leverage it to build
your brand, build your influence, and build your income.
And hey, even if it's hard, even if it's a little bit harder
than it is for others, look at the bright side
and the positive side, rather than focusing on the negative.
- Actually, the last thing I want to mention here
is, you know, it's proven that beyond the super stars,
that YouTube is working for all kinds of people.
Again, we'll go to our interviews, right?
We try to interview people at all different
subscriber levels doing different types of things,
different type of business models.
So I'd argue that, you know, YouTube is one the best places,
if not the best place, for building a digital presence.
And, it's obvious from the years of interviews
that we have on this channel.
- Okay, the next quote we wanna highlight is actually
a story of someone they covered,
and I think that maybe a lot of us can relate to this,
and that's why we wanted to share it.
So, it talks about Asher, who's a 19-year old
computer student graduate at
Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.
Talks about how he spent $460 on his camera and his tripod
for his YouTube channel, and he uploads every single day.
So, he's published more than 150 video diaries, vlogs,
that are essentially a catalog of his life at college.
And, brief updates on the things that he's done, his plans,
what he's eaten, with his appearances from his roommates.
And he said this:
"I don't know where it's all gonna end up,
"but it would be cool if I could take the path others have
"and make it a job, but we'll have to see."
And you know what's interesting is, again,
I think the inclusion of this story kind of is
building the bias of the article.
Focusing on people who just kind of wanna do what,
maybe Jake and Logan Paul are doing.
You know, daily vlogs.
Like you're gonna be interested in my daily plans,
what I'm eating, my own thoughts,
and all these types of things.
And, we really believe that that is not the shortest path,
or the best way to have success on YouTube.
The best way to have success on YouTube
is a focused niched channel, that adds
value to a target audience.
Build your influence that way first.
It's a lot more practical,
and then maybe later, you start vlogging.
And, that's been the case of a lot of people
we interviewed, even your own experience.
- Yeah.
You know, just to be clear about vloggers,
daily vloggers, even.
There was a lot of history before they became a vlogger.
Casey Neistat, for example.
He was always covering hot topics, right,
trendy videos, before he ever decided
to become a daily vlogger.
He already had an audience.
My wife, who made me into a daily vlogger,
she was doing beauty videos.
She was in that scene for a very long time.
A very niched interest before she became a vlogger.
But, she already had an audience established,
so they wanted to see, like, the behind-the-scenes,
and that's ultimately what made me
into a daily vlogger, because of her.
Jake and Logan Paul, they actually started out on YouTube,
but where they built their influence was Vine.
They were making Vine videos and they had fans
that migrated to YouTube when they became a daily vlogger.
So, that's really important to remember, because again,
if you're just starting out, like you, Asher,
and you have no context, there's no relationship,
and no fans to watch you,
it's gonna be an uphill battle to become a vlogger.
And it's gonna be hard to convince people
to watch your everyday life.
The last thing I'll mention, too, is in your comments,
said it'd be cool if I could take the path of others
and make it into a job.
Remember, you're not being hired by YouTube.
There's no promise of pay, just because you upload videos.
You need views, and lots of views, right?
Not just subscribers, you need like, a huge following.
And, you still need a hustle.
We were talking about this at the beginning.
You still need other business models,
you need other income opportunities,
to make this into a full-time thing.
And, it's never gonna really be a job.
It's gonna be a business.
- Alright, so based on this article,
we got three big tips and take-aways,
but there's one more quote we wanted to touch,
which is actually, kind of a positive thing.
Bright spot right in the middle of this article.
And, it actually says this. It says,
That there's good news for gamers.
That gamers actually have a 14 times better chance
than traditional vloggers.
And so, I find that interesting.
Maybe you wanna be a gamer.
We know that's competitive, as well,
but dang, 14 times greater chance than vloggers?
That's encouraging.
- Yeah, and you know, obviously, this is something
that a lot of people know.
Gaming, video games, is very popular.
And, that's why there's so much success.
Not just on YouTube, but other platforms.
But something to consider.
Like, as the world gets more connected,
and more users start watching YouTube,
there's gonna be all types of niche-types of content,
where creators are gonna be able to make a living
based on larger audiences watching them.
So, I think this is just like foreshadowing what's to come.
- Alright, so really quick, what are the take-aways,
what are some our thoughts, kinda summoning up this article?
Tip number one is, perspective is everything.
You know, this article has a certain perspective,
and to be honest, you know, I think what it's speaking to,
we agree with.
We feel like this article is speaking to those
who wanna be come super famous YouTubers.
They wanna imitate the Casey Neistat, the Superwoman,
the Logan Paul, Jake Paul kind of model.
And yeah, we think that pursuing that as an ambition
is not gonna be guaranteed for a lot of people,
but again perspective is everything.
That's only looking at, really, like 3%
of the world of YouTube.
There's so many people that are building businesses,
building business models, niched channels,
building communities.
And here's the thing, too,
you don't have to go full-time.
There's plenty of people that are making
an extra $10,000 a year, you know.
An extra $30,000 a year to support their family
in their duel income.
There's a lot of different long-tail ways
of having success on YouTube,
without just being a superstar.
- And the reality is, success isn't guaranteed anywhere,
right; in school, in a job.
You know, people work their whole lives and get laid off
at any time, you know.
When the business' not doing well.
In business, as an entrepreneur,
and we just listed off some stats.
So, keep that in mind, just because you do YouTube
and put up videos, it doesn't mean that YouTube
owes you any money, right?
So again, this person that wrote this article
is almost saying, well, if you do this much work
and put up these videos, you should get paid.
Well, that's not a good way to look at life in general,
because nothing is guaranteed.
- Absolutely.
And the second big take-away is
create multiple streams of income.
That's possibly the most important thing from this article,
'cause the focus was just on AdSense,
that if you just focused on AdSense alone,
you're not gonna make very much money,
and we agree with that.
That's why we always encourage you to build your income
in multiple different ways,
because a lot of little streams of income
can add up to a lot.
- You know, as a vlogger, I can tell you,
after doing this for 10 years,
and having 10, 15 million views,
AdSense is never a huge part income of our income,
or a business model.
You know, it's really important to remember that
all the way you'll hustle beyond the AdSense
is where you're gonna have the most opportunity.
- And then our third biggest take-way
is focus on a niche channel that adds value
to a specific target audience.
You know, we really think that if you try to do YouTube
full-time as a vlogger, that's gonna be a slow road,
and you may never make it.
But we've seen so many different channels
that focus on sewing, gardening, you know,
interior decorating, real estate, something specific.
And even without a large audience, they're able to
break through and make enough income,
to either be part-time or even go full-time
a lot quicker, in a much more practical way.
- Yeah, there's a lot of discussion about the algorithm,
and the changes, but I can tell you this,
YouTube is going more towards this suggested video model,
where they're going niche.
They're suggesting the videos that
you're really interested in.
So, the more niche your channel is,
the better success you're gonna have.
If you're in your own lane,
you're gonna have less competition,
and YouTube actually wants to suggest your videos
to the people that are interested in your type of content.
Specific topics.
So, we would suggest, definitely, like we have for years,
but more so than ever.
Niche it down to a specific type of content
that sets your channel apart from other people.
- Which brings us to the
Question Of The Day.
And that is, we wanna hear from you.
What did you think about this article?
Whether you read it, or whether from the quotes
that we shared in this video.
Definitely post that in the comment section below,
and remember, some of the best tips and feedback
come from you, the Influencers community.
So, definitely connect with everybody
in the comments section.
Thanks so much for watching.
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