YouTube Opinion What are everyone's feelings about asking for crowd support?

[The Jungle Explorer]

I am interested in hearing what everyone's feelings are about moving towards a crowd-supported channel? I have seen channels that talk about people supporting them directly through monthly subscriptions. I would like to get some feedback from people that have tried this or are doing this, or know people that are. What is the best way to go about this? For example.

 

[Damon]

Yeah, I have a basic Patreon page set up. It doesn't pay much, though.

Check out Andrew St Pierre Whites' Youtube channel and Patreon set up. He's sort of like David Attenborough meets 4x4 truck building. He's actually a TV personality who got tired of working with networks and decided to strike out on his own. White does a good job of crowd-funding his channel:

https://www.youtube.com/c/4xoverland/videos

 

[The Jungle Explorer]

Yeah, I have a basic Patreon page set up. It doesn't pay much, though.

Check out Andrew St Pierre Whites' Youtube channel and Patreon set up. He's sort of like David Attenborough meets 4x4 truck building. He's actually a TV personality who got tired of working with networks and decided to strike out on his own. White does a good job of crowd-funding his channel:

https://www.youtube.com/c/4xoverland/videos

I have looked at Patreon a little, but it appears to be a whole new area of time consumption and work. They are not just supporting my YT channel, I have to create a whole new line of content for patrons. At least that is what it seems like it amounts to.

What I want is to offer people the opportunity to support me as a YouTube creator that they want to stay around. The simple fact is, if things don't change with YT, I have no reason to keep producing new content. I am not going to work for free. I am already working on the possibility of moving all my content off of YT to greener fields. I don't want to do that, but I need a reason to stick around and YPP is not giving me that. I am now making 75% less than I was a year ago and working 300% harder. I don't mind working hard if there is a reward in it, but YT is not showing me any reward and I don't see any hope for the future.

The thing that makes no sense to me is that I just crossed 15K subs last night. My subs are climbing at a record rate while my views and earnings are crashing like a plane in a tailspin. What this fact says to me is that my viewers like my content, but YT has no interest in it, at least not in promoting and supporting my channel. So, my thinking is to put it out there to my subscribers. Do they want me to stick around and keep creating content? Would they be willing to give me a couple of bucks a month to support me so I can keep doing it? If the answer is no, I am fine with that. I will just stop creating content for my YT channel and go somewhere that offers greater rewards for my talent and effort.

 

[Tito Tim]

I do not talk about money very often in my vids, because I get sick of some channels almost begging in every vid. When I do mention memberships I say it is just a nice way to support the channel - if they want. I should offer more to the members but I really dislike a paywall.

I mention my e-book every couple of months (every 8 or 10 videos). I rarely even mention the YT Memberships. I should talk about a little more, but I do not want to come across as an e-beggar. The only thing I really have to offer members is early access to my vids, as I try to have 4or 5 scheduled at a time. I just set them to 'members only' and have to remember to schedule them later.

I had both Patreon and YT memberships for a little while but the YT memberships were far more popular than Patreon, for my subscribers. They did not want to mess with another platform either. I eventually closed my Patreon. Patreon takes like 5% of the collected money. YouTube memberships take 30%. But I found Patreon too much like another platform and more work than I wanted to do. Also YT has a lot of built in stuff for members.

 

[The Jungle Explorer]

I do not talk about money very often in my vids, because I get sick of some channels almost begging in every vid. When I do mention memberships I say it is just a nice way to support the channel - if they want. I should offer more to the members but I really dislike a paywall.

I mention my e-book every couple of months (every 8 or 10 videos). I rarely even mention the YT Memberships. I should talk about a little more, but I do not want to come across as an e-beggar. The only thing I really have to offer members is early access to my vids, as I try to have 4or 5 scheduled at a time. I just set them to 'members only' and have to remember to schedule them later.

I had both Patreon and YT memberships for a little while but the YT memberships were far more popular than Patreon, for my subscribers. They did not want to mess with another platform either. I eventually closed my Patreon. Patreon takes like 5% of the collected money. YouTube memberships take 30%. But I found Patreon too much like another platform and more work than I wanted to do. Also YT has a lot of built in stuff for members.

Thanks for the info. I too do not like begging for money. What I am thinking of doing is simply putting a card in my videos that links to a page on my website where they can choose to support me. Instead of asking for money, I had a little fun with it and related it to meal items. Here is a screenshot. Tell me what you think.

 

[Damon]

Maybe check out https://ko-fi.com/

 

[The Jungle Explorer]

Maybe check out https://ko-fi.com/

Thanks. I will take a look at this. Looks interesting.

 

[torres]

I don't really like this idea. yet if you produce quality videos and make the right settings, then success will come with time. I'm still testing the content distribution service for the chinese market from air creators ecosystem which also has a positive effect on the channel's statistics because recognition is improving. this is already a more effective tool than crowd-supported channel IMHO