The Manual #16 - YouTube Business
I’ve been making YouTube videos since 2015. From 2015 - 2019 I would mainly make videos whenever I felt like it. It was something I didn’t really focus on and I wasn’t that invested in it — mainly because I was making quite a bit more money from other businesses.
But at the end of 2019 things started to go up quite quickly and I realised I was on to something.
That was when I realised this YouTube thing could be a good business as well as a good form of creative outlet.
The benefits of having a YouTube channel greatly outweighed the cons.
The benefits:
I enjoyed video/photo and this was a great creative outlet
I loved tech, design and lifestyle and wanted to share them
Somewhat passive as the income isn’t directly tied to how many hours I put in
A following/audience that trust what I say
A good way to make friends
The cons:
Takes a lot of time to get going if you don’t get some sort of head start
No control over the YouTube algorithm — you have no idea what videos will do well
Mean comments and people picking out every part of you, even though they’ve never met you
I was willing to take on those cons, especially the mean comments because I’d say I’m pretty good at being disconnected from them. The mean comments usually come from people who have never met you and don’t seem to realise that who you are on camera does not match the person you are in reality.
On average, YouTube takes up 2-3 days a week for me. Sometimes it can be more, especially at the end of the year, as companies are releasing new tech (like the new iPhones) and other companies are spending their ad budgets.
YouTube is now consistently bringing in over $10k a month for me and it just seems to be growing at a pretty steady rate.
What makes YouTube exciting for me is that a random video can go viral at any moment, suddenly bringing in a ton of new subscribers and income.
Most of my YouTube income comes from sponsors and one of the most common questions I get is “how do I get sponsors?”. The best answer I have is that you wait for them to come to you. I have never asked a company to sponsor a video on my channel. Every company has come to me first because they see me making content that others seem to want to watch.
Once you have something others want, the money will come in naturally.
Workspace Setup Tour
I have a new video up on my workspace setup in the new office. A lot of work went into this one and I love it. Watch it here →
Link Lowdown
A collection of links to stuff I think are worth sharing.
iPhone 13 Pro Camera Review - A great review covering the iPhone 13 cameras by Austin Mann.
A f**cking master — Love reading shorts stories like this, worth a read.
How To Respond To “Your Price Is Too High” — Incredible role play video showing how to argue your price and convey your worth.
Twitch Leak Showing Streamer Payouts — Crazy tweet showing payouts.
Feeds Mage - A cool curator of content from the people you follow.
volt.fm — Your Spotify profile on steroids.
Meddify — A medication reminder app. Wish I had this when I was on chemo!