Any YouTubers on the Green Screen?

[Michael]

I'm glad you chimed in! Any advice for us up and comers??

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

I'm certainly no expert at building a YT channel. I wish I would have embraced it years ago, but when YT started in 2004, I didn't want to drive traffic FROM TBH and insisted on uploading videos to the TBH server (and even put "youtube" in the swear filter to keep links off the site.) Even before YT, I wanted to create a weekly "video journal" with updates on what was happening on the site, hunting info and videos, etc. I definitely missed the boat with what YT has ultimately become!

That said, there's still plenty of opportunity in the "creator" market, both inside and outside of YouTube. Here are some random thoughts, some of which could fall into the "advice" category.

1. "Take the Leap." "Just do it." "The first is always the hardest." Pick your cliche'...but you have to start somewhere.

I didn't start my "Video Journal" when I had the original idea because I had a hefty supply of excuses. I needed a new camera...different lens...better lighting...higher quality audio setup. I need to learn to color grade...boost audio...animate grapics...tell a better story...create zoom or light leak transitions...people will think it's corny...the list goes on and on.

Pretty much everybody has what they need to start creating videos in their pocket (camera phone) and their head (idea or story). Don't overthink it. Just create it and upload it. Not many people are likely to see your first one, anyway!

2. "Make bad videos until you're good, then make good videos until you're great." Create and upload your first and then move on to the second. You'll learn new techniques, get more efficient with filming and editing, get more comfortable talking to a camera, etc. the more you create and upload. Don't try to wait until you're a great producer, editor, storyteller, etc. to start. Increase your learning curve to greatness by doing ("doing is learning" if you want another cliche')

3. Find your niche. Most successful YouTubers have found a specific niche - idea, information, entertainment, topic, etc. - and cater to that audience.

4. Story is king. This should probably be #1. I think too many new "vloggers" rely on just winging it with whatever happens in their daily lives. Some vloggers can get away with that, but in most cases those vloggers built an audience elsewhere by providing information before they started vlogging their personal "story." Neistat, Carriker and Rackley are each good examples. They built an audience before they started vlogging their personal lives. Even if vlogging your personal life, you still need to tell a compelling story. Neistat is brilliant at this.

5. Be consistent with uploads. This is one of my problems, but you'll build your audience more quickly if you are consistent with your uploads.

I have more random thoughts about this, but I need to get to work!

[Oz_Ag]

I'm not going to be able to stop working anytime soon, but we have over 4 million views and make $150 a month! We are working on ways to hopefully increase this and post a little more often. Finding editing time is the toughest part! It's hard for me to sit down at the computer and edit when I spend 40+ hrs a week on the computer at work. Having young kids makes it difficult too as I'd rather spend time with them.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQZZuj91YVFyNbCERtfZ4ww

[MA ELite]

Final Pursuit TV has a YouTube channel. Needs some updates.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[unclefish]

I'm not going to be able to stop working anytime soon, but we have over 4 million views and make $150 a month! We are working on ways to hopefully increase this and post a little more often. Finding editing time is the toughest part! It's hard for me to sit down at the computer and edit when I spend 40+ hrs a week on the computer at work. Having young kids makes it difficult too as I'd rather spend time with them.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQZ...VFyNbCERtfZ4ww

Good stuff! Has YouTube demonetized any of your hunting videos yet? Its a disturbing trend and has happened to alot of big youtubers. Fishing with Flair posts alot of hunting vids and youtube has demonetized most if not all of them.

Also my son noticed a big decrease in ad revenue for the same amount of views the past couple of months. It was almost cut in half. I think he said this month it was back up but he said there was no rhyme or reason for it.

[Throwin Darts]

I have a new YouTube channel. My old channel hit about a million views. I still get about 5 hate messages a week on one of the videos of TxAg hitting a warthog in the spine with an arrow. ha ha ha.

I just started a new channel and Instagram page if anyone wants to check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_M6rxSDpuUF6Y0nY5_u27Q

[Oz_Ag]

Good stuff! Has YouTube demonetized any of your hunting videos yet? Its a disturbing trend and has happened to alot of big youtubers. Fishing with Flair posts alot of hunting vids and youtube has demonetized most if not all of them.

Also my son noticed a big decrease in ad revenue for the same amount of views the past couple of months. It was almost cut in half. I think he said this month it was back up but he said there was no rhyme or reason for it.

Yes, more than half of our videos are demonetized. If they reach 1000 views / week you can protest it. I have protested every video I can and won. Luckily that means our best videos are still monetized.

I have noticed rises and falls in revenue as well. I don't know what causes it, nor do I ask questions. I also noticed one time about a year ago where we were getting 2000+ views per day for months straight and over night it dropped to 400. The climb has been slow and steady since. Youtube seems to do some "fishy" stuff, but like Skinny said, I'd just want them to be up and not blocked completely.

[Shake N' Bake]

I'm certainly no expert at building a YT channel. I wish I would have embraced it years ago, but when YT started in 2004, I didn't want to drive traffic FROM TBH and insisted on uploading videos to the TBH server (and even put "youtube" in the swear filter to keep links off the site.) Even before YT, I wanted to create a weekly "video journal" with updates on what was happening on the site, hunting info and videos, etc. I definitely missed the boat with what YT has ultimately become!

That said, there's still plenty of opportunity in the "creator" market, both inside and outside of YouTube. Here are some random thoughts, some of which could fall into the "advice" category.

1. "Take the Leap." "Just do it." "The first is always the hardest." Pick your cliche'...but you have to start somewhere.

I didn't start my "Video Journal" when I had the original idea because I had a hefty supply of excuses. I needed a new camera...different lens...better lighting...higher quality audio setup. I need to learn to color grade...boost audio...animate grapics...tell a better story...create zoom or light leak transitions...people will think it's corny...the list goes on and on.

Pretty much everybody has what they need to start creating videos in their pocket (camera phone) and their head (idea or story). Don't overthink it. Just create it and upload it. Not many people are likely to see your first one, anyway!

2. "Make bad videos until you're good, then make good videos until you're great." Create and upload your first and then move on to the second. You'll learn new techniques, get more efficient with filming and editing, get more comfortable talking to a camera, etc. the more you create and upload. Don't try to wait until you're a great producer, editor, storyteller, etc. to start. Increase your learning curve to greatness by doing ("doing is learning" if you want another cliche')

3. Find your niche. Most successful YouTubers have found a specific niche - idea, information, entertainment, topic, etc. - and cater to that audience.

4. Story is king. This should probably be #1. I think too many new "vloggers" rely on just winging it with whatever happens in their daily lives. Some vloggers can get away with that, but in most cases those vloggers built an audience elsewhere by providing information before they started vlogging their personal "story." Neistat, Carriker and Rackley are each good examples. They built an audience before they started vlogging their personal lives. Even if vlogging your personal life, you still need to tell a compelling story. Neistat is brilliant at this.

5. Be consistent with uploads. This is one of my problems, but you'll build your audience more quickly if you are consistent with your uploads.

I have more random thoughts about this, but I need to get to work!

Thank you for your response!

I understand why you didn't want to drive traffic away from TBH in the beginning but now I wonder how many people have found TBH from your YouTube videos. Its crazy how perspectives can change!

A while back I videoed my self with my phone installing a piece of equipment. I made it a time lapse and then did a VO explaining what I was doing. I completely forgot about uploading it and several months later my daughter came to me amd said it had 5K views.

I have since gotten permission from our
Sr Director of Field Ops to do more videos. So I'm planning on making more of these videos. I'm also a very big DIY guy so I'm going to start video some projects I do around the house and for hunting.

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

[Oz_Ag]

Good stuff! Has YouTube demonetized any of your hunting videos yet? Its a disturbing trend and has happened to alot of big youtubers. Fishing with Flair posts alot of hunting vids and youtube has demonetized most if not all of them.

Also my son noticed a big decrease in ad revenue for the same amount of views the past couple of months. It was almost cut in half. I think he said this month it was back up but he said there was no rhyme or reason for it.

So I just did some research. I looked up stats for Aug 1st - Jan 31st (our peak time) for the past 2 years.

8/1/16 - 1/31/17
1,236,000 views
813 comments
1953 subscribers
$2098

8/1/17 - 1/31/18
1,247,000 views
479 comments
1872 subscribers
$686

An algorithm of views, comments and subs is what is used to determine monetization amount. It seems that these 2 data sets should yield more similar dollar amounts to me and not 1/3 as much. I think you are on to something.

[Eagle19]

So I just did some research. I looked up stats for Aug 1st - Jan 31st (our peak time) for the past 2 years.



8/1/16 - 1/31/17

1,236,000 views

813 comments

1953 subscribers

$2098



8/1/17 - 1/31/18

1,247,000 views

479 comments

1872 subscribers

$686



An algorithm of views, comments and subs is what is used to determine monetization amount. It seems that these 2 data sets should yield more similar dollar amounts to me and not 1/3 as much. I think you are on to something.

So coming from a marketing standpoint there are a lot of things that come into play here. It depends what ads are run and when. Somebody could be running a cpc campaign and if the ad on your video isn’t getting any clicks then you don’t get paid very much. It also depends on if the ad even has anything to do with the demographic that is watching your content.

A marketer could be doing that on purpose to get cheaper brand recognition for their ads. Cheap and not as effective.

Then you have YouTube who keeps slashing demonetizing royalty’s. I’m honestly not a fan of YouTube’s ceo. You also now have YouTube red, which I’m trying to figure out how YouTube creators can make money off that.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Shake N' Bake]

Does anybody have any tips for getting subscribers? I feel like I'm getting a decent amount of views but no subscribers.

[Skinny]

Does anybody have any tips for getting subscribers? I feel like I'm getting a decent amount of views but no subscribers.

Best way I’ve found is to be part of a community of youtubers with the same type of videos as you post. Hunting community, tech community, etc etc etc. Have videos that draw people in is key. People that actually want to see what you’ll post next, etc.




Skinny

[HdFilmmaker]

So, Skinny is right as far as getting involved in a community of like minded folks and the viewers will find you.

HOWEVER, the reason for the decrease in revenue is because of your content. YT, FB and Google has taken your "CPM" and cut it in as much as 60-80%.

My client we are creating a OTT/VOD channel for right now had 6M million views a week. They are putting out the same amount of content now as then and it has dropped to less than 200K. That does not mean those viewers aren't interested. It means they DON'T see it. YT, FB and Google are all blocking any content they don't approve. They have publicly said this, they are not hiding this fact. If you have Guns, 2A, pro Trump, hate Hillary, christian values, non-gays, conservative or strong leadership men. Or ANY one of those in your channel or content you are or WILL be blocked.

The way around that is to get your own OTT/VOD channel. We have been doing the research and this area is growing by 20% a year. By 2020 VOD will be bigger then cable/satellite or OTA Over The Air reaches.

Our CPM's average between 6-12$. YT standard is 3-5$. If you're going to make money doing this then you need to know about CPMs.

You can add your own ads, you can allow the network to add relevant ads. You can post the vids on your FB, YT, Website anywhere and it'll be on ROKU, AppleTV, Android, Smart TVs and you can watch on any device.

It's just become affordable in the last 10-12 months.

[darralld]

Mine has some classic hunts on it my dad did back in the 70's. Also a few Howard Hill hunts.
Just search DARRALL DOUGHERTY

[Eagle19]

So, Skinny is right as far as getting involved in a community of like minded folks and the viewers will find you.

HOWEVER, the reason for the decrease in revenue is because of your content. YT, FB and Google has taken your "CPM" and cut it in as much as 60-80%.

My client we are creating a OTT/VOD channel for right now had 6M million views a week. They are putting out the same amount of content now as then and it has dropped to less than 200K. That does not mean those viewers aren't interested. It means they DON'T see it. YT, FB and Google are all blocking any content they don't approve. They have publicly said this, they are not hiding this fact. If you have Guns, 2A, pro Trump, hate Hillary, christian values, non-gays, conservative or strong leadership men. Or ANY one of those in your channel or content you are or WILL be blocked.

The way around that is to get your own OTT/VOD channel. We have been doing the research and this area is growing by 20% a year. By 2020 VOD will be bigger then cable/satellite or OTA Over The Air reaches.

Our CPM's average between 6-12$. YT standard is 3-5$. If you're going to make money doing this then you need to know about CPMs.

You can add your own ads, you can allow the network to add relevant ads. You can post the vids on your FB, YT, Website anywhere and it'll be on ROKU, AppleTV, Android, Smart TVs and you can watch on any device.

It's just become affordable in the last 10-12 months.

I was thinking about that the other day but what other websites can you use to create your own. VOD channel?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[HdFilmmaker]

I was thinking about that the other day but what other websites can you use to create your own. VOD channel?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There are a couple that are the biggest creators that have all the bandwidth you'd ever need. One thing to do is partner with common types of content and make a channel with multiple videos.

It helps if you have content going into the channel daily. Once you get high enough viewers switch to subscription service svc that way you can focus on content and not HAVE to c chase that elusive sponsor.

Remember what makes you stand out from two other yahoos whispering in a deer stand? Just an example..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk