The Manual #1

The first of many.

Welcome to the first email! I’ll be honest, I’m very new to this but I plan to build a format. It won’t be a weekly email or a monthly email, it’ll be a “whenever it’s ready” email. Mainly because I hate forcing stuff, I’ve always been one to share things when they come naturally to me.

Why I do the YouTube

I’ve been a YouTube user since as far as I can remember. I remember a time of random clips, ratings and video responses. I actually started making videos in 2010 but had no idea what I was doing, gave up, and then didn’t get back into it again until the end of 2015.

Even now, YouTube is something I do on the side and I think it will always be something I do on the side — I doubt I’ll ever make it a full-time thing. The reason I don’t want it to be a full-time gig is because I enjoy doing a mix of stuff and always have, maybe that’s a curse of being a “creative”.

People will always say you should do something you love and the money will come naturally, and I truly believe in that. But at the same time, we all have to make a living and I think you’d be stupid not to try and make money from doing things you love. Mixing creativity and business may just be the most powerful superpower you can have and we see people do it every day.

When I started uploading videos it was with the full intention that it was going to be a business. I had known YouTube was a lucrative game if you got the mix of creativity and business right. So I naturally shared my love for tech and lifestyle products and mixed it with my love for videography.

And you know what the best feeling is? When the tech you make videos on, pays for itself and makes you a nice profit on top.

Here is a screenshot of my YouTube stats showing the views and earnings on my “Apple Refurbished - My Experience” video.

I made this video on a whim. I came up with it on a random afternoon. It took me around 30 mins to record and an hour to edit. I uploaded it and forgot about it.

Since the upload, you can see that I’ve made $1500 USD from the video which covered the cost of me buying the iPad Pro and a very healthy profit on top. What a dream situation.

A few things I’ve learned since making videos.

Mix creativity and business

A lot of people are afraid of mixing the two but I think it’s probably the most important thing you can do. Why not turn something you love doing into a business, you’d be silly not to. At the same time, reinvest the money to enhance your creativity wherever possible.

Don’t overthink it

Many of my most popular videos, images, products, tweets…etc are random things I just felt like sharing because I wanted to. They’re things I would use myself or recommend to others. People care about your experiences, doesn’t matter what they’re in, you’ll find someone interested. At the same time, don’t worry if it doesn’t gain traction. You keep trying until you do.

Follow and unfollow trends

Following trending topics is a fantastic way to gain views and grow the channel. But don’t get too hooked onto the trend. Once it’s over, it’s over.

Have your own format and stick to it

One thing I noticed with every popular YouTuber is that they have a format and they stick to it. It’s usually the same camera angle, the same shots, and the same storytelling. People like familiarity and they’ll come back for it.

Clickbait doesn’t survive long-term

Creating ridiculously flashy thumbnails, absurd titles, and overall trying to create clickbait will hurt you in the long-term. You may bring in the quick views and comments but most people will go away and never come back. I’d rather have 100k loyal subscribers who are actually interested in my content rather than 1 million who watch the odd video here and there.

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Link Lowdown

A collection of links to stuff I think worth sharing.

ferrumpipe.com — Who thought you could make such a beautiful website on fences. Yes, fences! Fantastic example of taking something mundane and making it creative.

yourtempo.co — A cool minimalist email app that sends you your emails at different times of the day instead of being bombarded with new email notifications constantly.

How Much Money YouTube Pays Me (1 Million vs. 24k Subscribers) — Great video from Daniel going through how the type of content you make on YouTube affects your income. (It’s inspired me to make more money-related content so that I can also make more money ha!)

How the super-rich avoid taxes using freeports — Quick lowdown on how the super-rich use freeports around the world to avoid paying taxes on things like art.

Electric RC plane defying physics — Blew my mind how much incredible control you could have over a bloody RC plane!

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Personal Update

As I’m sure most of you are already aware, I’m currently going through treatment for my cancer. I’ve just finished chemotherapy and am awaiting scans to see how the chemo has performed against the nodules in my lungs. The nodules in my lungs are considered low-volume which is a good thing and the signs are looking good. So I’m looking forward to seeing how things progress. I still need to have surgery but things are going to plan and hopefully, all of my treatment will be over by the end of the year 🎉

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What can I do for you?

Please leave any comments on your thoughts and questions. I’m always looking for new topics to cover and I want to answer your most popular questions.