YouTube Networks Monetization for all?

[MediaMan]

Take my channel for example. There is another guy who makes content similar to mine. He is famous and I am not. Why? Because he wears a blonde girls wig and breaks things while making his video. Basically he acts like a complete idiot. He he made the same video, but without all the shenanigans, he would be unknown. The thing is, I personally cannot stand his videos. There is actually some good info in his videos, but his fake "Playing the Clown" acting is such a turn off to me. Now you might say, "Well, his content is entertaining" and I would agree with you, but content does not have to be like that to be entertaining and popular. Ever heard of Martha Stweart? Does she have to act like a clown to get views. No. You see, it is not that you have to act like a clown, it is just that, it is YT that wants you to act that way. It is called "Playing to the Lowest Common Denominator".

"Basically he acts like a complete idiot." - Or he just knows his particular demographic market well and did whatever it takes to reach them en masse. I'm dealing with this myself to a certain extent. With one of my channels I realize my content is just as good as any other in my topic, but the host (myself) is very boring, so I know long term I have to up my "performance" for long term growth. Subscribers subliminally want that connection with a channel host, if they don't get that, they won't subscribe. Sure you might get decent views, but your subs/views ratio will be very low.

Do you do any paid marketing for your business or do you just reply on organic reach alone? Because personally, I don't have any delusions about being successful in my video business via organic reach alone, at least not in today's $ocial driven economy.

 

[Damon]

Or he just knows his particular demographic market well and did whatever it takes to reach them en masse.

Great point. I deal with this myself, but from the opposite perspective. My audience wants someone calm, even-keeled, but still has the ability to hold their attention. Your point about, "Subscribers subliminally want that connection with a channel host," is spot on.

Here's a comment that can in just yesterday on a video I did earlier this year:

Kendall Mezo
Wealth of knowledge my man! Always something new to try and things to learn, your humbleness truly resonates brother.

There is no amount of popularity that can beat comments like that. It shows that you've found and audience and that they resonate with you.

 

[MattCommand1]

Great point. I deal with this myself, but from the opposite perspective. My audience wants someone calm, even-keeled, but still has the ability to hold their attention. Your point about, "Subscribers subliminally want that connection with a channel host," is spot on.

To a degree, I think some of us attract viewers that are somewhat like ourselves. I tend to lean into this. After all, being ourselves should be easier than adopting another persona.

Although admittedly, in recent videos, my online persona is a bit more charged up than I normally am in real life. Part of this is that I feel a subtle shift to put more energy into my videos. As an introvert, projecting requires effort (unless I get angry which is not a place I like to be).

 

[The Jungle Explorer]

"Basically he acts like a complete idiot." - Or he just knows his particular demographic market well and did whatever it takes to reach them en masse. I'm dealing with this myself to a certain extent. With one of my channels I realize my content is just as good as any other in my topic, but the host (myself) is very boring, so I know long term I have to up my "performance" for long term growth. Subscribers subliminally want that connection with a channel host, if they don't get that, they won't subscribe. Sure you might get decent views, but your subs/views ratio will be very low.

Do you do any paid marketing for your business or do you just reply on organic reach alone? Because personally, I don't have any delusions about being successful in my video business via organic reach alone, at least not in today's $ocial driven economy.

You are correct that people want to feel they have a connection with the creator. The problem is, "Reality vs Illusion". A guy who wears a blonde girl's wig and acts like a clown and breaks things. people may FEEL a connection, but the reality is, it is only an illusion. That guy is not being himself. He is ACTING a role. Even though I have never shown my face in my videos, I can guarantee you that my subscribers know more real stuff about me as a person than that guy wearing a wig. If you watch my videos and then you met me in real life, you absolutely would not be able to tell the difference. I am probably the rawest person you will ever meet. There is no plastic facade about me. Most of these internet personalities are nothing like the characters they portray in their videos. It is all an act.

The problem is, it does not have to be this way. It is this way because a handful of people that control the algo have decided that content that will get PLASTERED in front of your face is content that is created by people that act this way. I get so sick of it. I hear about how Big Data and Tracking that is all supposed to learn about you and deliver content that you like, but NONE OF IT WORKS, at least not for me. I never see stuff I like. I see stuff EVERYONE else likes. YT suggestions are not based on what you want to watch, they are based on what YT THINKS you should want to watch. And what they THINK you should want to watch is based off of Click Bait Style marketing tactics that attempt to inspire an instinctive reaction.

Listen, I know what it takes to be successful. Like Damon, I am not willing to sell my soul as a human to do what THEY want.

But I will disagree with you on this. I have 17K subs. I think that is pretty dang good for a guy who has never shown his face and does not "Play the Clown". My subscribers and viewers thank me every day for not being one of those kinds of people who caves into that trend. There are a lot of people out there that are tired and fed up with the Platforms trying to force BWC down their throats with both feet. A lot of people want content created by a real person. I create the kind of content I create because that is the kind of content I myself want to see. Unfortunately, finding this type of content feels like fighting a war with the aglos that keep throwing BWC content in your face. I have actually screamed into my phone on several occasions, "WHY DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND? I DO NOT WANT TO SEE THIS KIND OF CRAP!" I know there are millions of people out there that are just like me. Thye are sick and tired, frustrated and fed up, with the constant barrage of Click Bait, Meaningles, Gobbeldeguk, Binge worth content that the algos keep throwing at them.

 

[Damon]

What gives credibility to @The Jungle Explorer's argument, as least anecdotally, is how many times have people found my content and asked,

"Why haven't I found your content until now?" That is, after months or years searching.

or

"How is it possible that you don't have 100,000 subscribers with content of this quality and value?"

The answer is simple: My content does not appeal to the mindless masses.

 

[MediaMan]

But I will disagree with you on this.

Disagree on what btw? ? ?

Like you said you have over 17k subs (which is awesome btw, congrats!) you're doing things your way, etc, etc. That's great, much respect for doing that. But you also sound a bit scorned for your competitor's success, it's almost impossible to compete against a channel willing to "do whatever it takes" to grow their channel. Let's be real here... regardless of the knowledge being demonstrated in the video, the one acting a fool, or the girl willing to show some skin, while giving said knowledge, is going to get more views/subs every single time. Hell...I bet you a busty good looking babe could read 1 page a day from a phone book on her channel and get more views/subs then anyone on this forum. As I've said before in another thread... if you approach YouTube "just to make money" and are willing to do whatever it takes to get there, that's probably a much easier road to YT success compared to the way most of us are doing it.

The answer is simple: My content does not appeal to the mindless masses.

For sure, but one of the things of being a successful internet entrepreneur is the willingness to adapt...if needed.

 

[Damon]

For sure, but one of the things of being a successful internet entrepreneur is the willingness to adapt...if needed.

And, I have many times. The content I make today is nothing like the content I made in the beginning or even two years ago.

An Olympic swimmer will never make a good marathon runner, different body type. The long torso of a swimmer works against him if he switched to marathon running. The long legs of a marathon runner would work against him as a swimmer, even if they had the same level of training. A marathon runner would make a horrible weight lifter. Boxers are horrible as mix-martial artists. They have to balance differently. Wrestlers, Judo fighters make great mma fighters because of the ground fighting and throws built into their art form.

In other words we all have personalities, skills, talents that lean a certain way that give us an advantage in certain arenas.

You're correct. Fishing channels with blonde babes in bikinis are the fastest growing fishing channels on YouTube. But getting a sex change operation, dying my hair blonde, and wearing a bikini is not an adaptation that will work to my advantage. I adapt in ways that work to my strengths. For me that won't get me a million subscribers, but I'm happy where I am, and to have the opportunity to do what I do.

I think that's your point: Where else will any of us go to do and have the same opportunities available to us here on YT? No where (as of yet). That's why I keep grinding and making new content, adapting and changing where it works to my advantage, not worrying about what other channels do or even what YouTube corporate does.

 

[The Jungle Explorer]

Disagree on what btw? ? ?

LOL!. Sorry, I did not complete my thought there. LOL! (I am actually in the middle of editing four videos while typing this and fielding phone calls, so my thought process is getting interrupted).

I meant I disagree with this statement you made, "Subscribers subliminally want that connection with a channel host, if they don't get that, they won't subscribe." Actually, YouTube subscribers generally subscribe on a whim. At least to my channel they do. Analytics shows that less than 1% of my 100k+ monthly views come from subscribers. My views come from Suggestions or External (Google).

Before July of 2021 when YT created the Shorts fund, 80% of my views were coming from YT suggestions. In July of 2021, YT tweaked the algo to favor Shorts and I lost half of my views in 15 days. I went from 200K views a month to 100k almost instantly. All of the lost views were from Suggestions. Now, most of my view comes from External sources, and Suggestions have continued to decline.

I do not "Scorn" the success of anyone. I am scorning the "Engineering" of the success of a certain type of content. I am all for the natural evolution of success, whatever that may be. But what I am seeing is a Subversion of the natural order on YT. I have been with YouTube since 2006. Things were not always this way. It used to be that if you worked hard and produced content of value, even if it did not have the Emotional Shock ( one acting a fool, or the girl willing to show some skin ) value, you could achieve some success on youtube because the algo did actually try to give people what they wanted. But that is no longer the case.

Here is the reality. YouTube is a for-profit company that makes money from showing ads on videos. The more videos you watch, the more money they make. If you come to YT to find information on how to program a car key, get that information and leave, they make almost no money. But, if you come to find information, but they throw a bunch of Click Bait thumbnails in front of you and get you to watch a bunch of MindCrack videos before you leave, they make more money. This is why I keep saying that YT does not care what you want to watch. What they suggest to you is what their human behavioral science says you are most likely to click on, whether or not it is content that actually interests you.

Again this is not about scorning anyone. There is a place for all. The problem is, that the people who are actually bringing something valuable to the world that makes the world a better place are getting trampled by people who bring nothing of real value to the table. And I am not talking exclusively about online content. It is a general trend.

Do you know who this guy is?

Do you know who this guy is?

The first guy is famous for being able to throw a pigskin down a cow pasture very well. Millions love him and he is insanely wealthy. However he and all like he could disappear from the world and it would not have any tangible effect on your life.

The second guy is a farmer. The Farmer grows all the food humans need to survive. Nobody knows him or his name. He will live most of his life in poverty, barely making ends meet. However, if the farmer disappears from the world, you will have no food to eat and you will starve to death.

My gripe is not just with YouTube. It is with a world that has its proirties all screwed up. Where riches and praise are lavished on people that bring nothing tangible and valuable to life, but the people that really are the ones keeping the world going die in poverty and obscurity.