How the YouTube Creator Economy Works

Buy your custom domain or email for 10% off at Hover.com/wendover
Watch Jet Lag: The Game at / jetlagthegame
Buy a Wendover Productions t-shirt: standard.tv/collections/wendo...
Subscribe to Half as Interesting (The other channel from Wendover Productions): / halfasinteresting
KZread: / wendoverproductions
Instagram: / sam.from.wendover
Twitter: / wendoverpro
Sponsorship Enquiries: wendover@standard.tv
Other emails: sam@wendover.productions
Reddit: / wendoverproductions
Select footage courtesy Thomas Frank, Aimee Nolte, Joe Scott, and Nebula
Writing by Sam Denby and Tristan Purdy
Editing by Alexander Williard
Animation led by Josh Sherrington
Sound by Graham Haerther
Thumbnail by Simon Buckmaster

Пікірлер: 1 600

  • @LegalEagle
    @LegalEagle Жыл бұрын

    I can't believe you didn't put a CuriosityStream/Nebula sponsorship on this video.

  • @titusjames4912

    @titusjames4912

    Жыл бұрын

    I'm surprised he didn't say it was sponsored by everyone he mentioned.

  • @AG-yc7vt

    @AG-yc7vt

    Жыл бұрын

    Attorney Tom #1

  • @TG-uj5fp

    @TG-uj5fp

    Жыл бұрын

    He did his Jet Lag the game one though

  • @ShaunCheah

    @ShaunCheah

    Жыл бұрын

    His mention of CuriosityStream/Nebula and the fact that it is a creator-owned revenue-sharing service functions about as well as if not arguably better than an outright sponsorship. Heck, the customized trackable URL is even included in this video during that segment with all the descriptions, so all the elements of a sponsorship are there. Plus, since he's part-owner, the profits gained from the mention do feed back into paying for this video, so there is a case to be argued that this is Sam from CuriosityStream/Nebula sneakily sponsoring a video by Sam from Wendover (probably under the advice of that sneaky weasel Sam, from Half as Interesting).

  • @revenger211

    @revenger211

    Жыл бұрын

    I mean he already mentioned it lmao

  • @crediblesalamander8056
    @crediblesalamander8056 Жыл бұрын

    It wasn't mentioned, but one of the other main sources of income is Patreon. It's crucial for creators that make long-form/less frequent videos. I don't think any of the (smaller) channels making 1+ hour documentaries every 2-6 months would be able to do it off of AdSense and sponsorship alone.

  • @e.moonbound2420

    @e.moonbound2420

    Жыл бұрын

    This is so true, the number of creators that depend on Patreon is reaaally big

  • @nuance9000

    @nuance9000

    Жыл бұрын

    RLM is my favorite KZread channel, but I'm pretty certain they don't make a lot. They have one of the most active Patreon. And they get that sweet, sweet Disney Star Wars money. Very cool

  • @shashankgadamsetty508

    @shashankgadamsetty508

    Жыл бұрын

    I am sure u r also refering to kraut :) he has abt 1200 monthly patreon supporters

  • @steinarjonsson_

    @steinarjonsson_

    Жыл бұрын

    He mentioned donations as a source of income, but yes he didn't specifically mention Patreon.

  • @crediblesalamander8056

    @crediblesalamander8056

    Жыл бұрын

    @@shashankgadamsetty508 I wasn't. But thanks for the recommendation, I didn't know anyone else did country ball videos after brain4breakfast's unfortunate passing.

  • @veritasium
    @veritasium Жыл бұрын

    I had never thought about this in so much detail (eg full value per view). Thanks for breaking it down Sam!

  • @mynameiswalterhartwellwhite420

    @mynameiswalterhartwellwhite420

    Жыл бұрын

    Veritasium :0

  • @drabberfrog

    @drabberfrog

    Жыл бұрын

    Yeah, the logical progression of going from ads before the video to ads during the video to ads for the creator's own merch makes a lot of sense.

  • @amirbahalegharn365

    @amirbahalegharn365

    Жыл бұрын

    yep,just like how electricity current doesn't go inside the tube as classic yet simple view usually are shown, the revenue isn't easy as 1-2-3 as well, we need to be smarter

  • @mynameiswalterhartwellwhite420

    @mynameiswalterhartwellwhite420

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Karlach_ 💀

  • @dgrassed

    @dgrassed

    Жыл бұрын

    It's Dirk from veristablium!

  • @ArtofEngineering
    @ArtofEngineering Жыл бұрын

    It's also worth mentioning that when a creator signs a deal with an ad agency, they are typically paid a fixed amount based on the number of views they think their video will get before it's even published, and not the actual number of views the video ends up getting. The view estimate will be agreed upon by the agency and the creator beforehand, and it will usually be a lower-bound estimate because there are consequences if a video under-performs. For example, if a video doesn't hit the view target within 30 days of publishing, then the creator might have to do another ad for free in a future video (often called a "make-good"). On the other hand, if a video over-performs and greatly exceeds the view target, then the creator will still only be paid based on their initial estimate specified in the contract. This a win-win scenario for the advertiser because they effectively get extra free advertising regardless of how the video performs. It's especially easy for new creators to be taken advantage of, because it can be extremely difficult to predict how many views a video might get without a ton of experience, and so they are far more likely to settle for a lower number (and therefore less pay). So here's my personal anecdote on this. I signed my first ad deal with an agency 3 years ago when my channel was only 1 year old and I had only produced 10 videos. Since I did not have a lot of analytics history, I agreed on a view target of 75,000 views, which seemed reasonable based on the performance of my previous videos. However, this particular video quickly got picked up by the algorithm, gaining over 3 million views in the first month, and is currently sitting at just under 7 million views today. So in the end, I was only paid for 1% of the views I received on that video, and the advertiser got nearly 7 million free impressions for their product. All I got was a "good job" from the ad agency, and then they offered me the exact same rate going forward for my next video. Needless to say, I am no longer working with this company. Lately, I've seen some companies offering "bonuses" for videos that exceed expectations, so perhaps things are now shifting to be more equitable for creators. However, it's still important to recognize that these agencies are just businesses that are trying to make as much money as possible, and some of them will try to take advantage of you if given the opportunity. It's just something that I think people need to be cautious about, especially if you're a young or inexperienced creator on the platform. If you want to turn your KZread career into a sustainable business, then you really need to develop your business skills just as much as your creative skills.

  • @dannydaw59

    @dannydaw59

    Жыл бұрын

    Those ad agencies are parasites. The creator does all the work and the agency spends a little time negotiating. If I was a creator I would bypass the ad agencies and do my sales pitch to Hello fresh or Curiosity Stream or whomever.

  • @topgunm

    @topgunm

    Жыл бұрын

    Why even sign up with an agency like this? They are guaranteed to get the better deal - always.

  • @ArchmageIlmryn

    @ArchmageIlmryn

    Жыл бұрын

    How much creative control do sponsors retain about the ads? E.g. are things like whether the ad-read is placed before, in the middle of, or at the end of the video controlled by the agency or creator? And does the creator typically get a bonus for clickthroughs/signups via their affiliate link or only a flat fee?

  • @ConceptCentral

    @ConceptCentral

    Жыл бұрын

    Couldn't have said it better myself.

  • @jezusbloodie

    @jezusbloodie

    Жыл бұрын

    Could one negotiate to cancel a make-good if a video does really well, like if it reaches double of the target within the time period?

  • @timmccarthy872
    @timmccarthy872 Жыл бұрын

    You're so right about those parasocial relationships with content creators, Sam ol buddy!

  • @EvanAviator

    @EvanAviator

    Жыл бұрын

    @Raytheslay bro would you shut up 💀

  • @cdvideodump

    @cdvideodump

    Жыл бұрын

    @Raytheslay Don't you mean Half as Interesting?

  • @googiegress7459

    @googiegress7459

    Жыл бұрын

    @@cdvideodump Scarcely seven-fourteenths as interesting I'd say

  • @1.4142

    @1.4142

    Жыл бұрын

    I wonder if people with multiple personality disorder can have parasocial relationships with themselves

  • @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721

    @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721

    Жыл бұрын

    Yeah, Sam always tells it like it is. He's so trustworthy.

  • @KhAnubis
    @KhAnubis Жыл бұрын

    No joke, at VidCon I had literally pondered “huh, what would it be like for Wendover to make a VidCon logistics video?“ As a smaller(ish) creator who had access to that elusive Hyatt, VidCon really felt like two separate parallel events, one for the larger creators and big brands, and one for everyone else. Kinda understandable given how past VidCons sort of turned into KZreadr petting zoos

  • @cheaterman49

    @cheaterman49

    Жыл бұрын

    @Raytheslay L + ratio

  • @SievertSchreiber

    @SievertSchreiber

    Жыл бұрын

    “KZreadr petting zoo” 😂👌

  • @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721

    @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721

    Жыл бұрын

    I would go to a KZreadr petting zoo.

  • @Halcon_Sierreno

    @Halcon_Sierreno

    Жыл бұрын

    You can pet KZreadrs?

  • @ArawnOfAnnwn

    @ArawnOfAnnwn

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Halcon_Sierreno Only if you have the big bucks to afford their sponsorships. ;)

  • @evan
    @evan Жыл бұрын

    I went to every Vidcon from the second one to the tenth and also every Playlist Live from 2-10 as well. I watched the scene change from being people and KZreadr-based to companies and brands-based and then finally tik tok and brands with youtubers sprinkled in. There was something magical about those early years. I wish there were a creator-based event in London though. But perhaps those days are in the past.

  • @nomore-constipation

    @nomore-constipation

    Жыл бұрын

    Would love to see more bigger creator's collaborate with lesser channels to get the platform to grow. However I think certain bigger audience channels feel afraid to get together based on loosing their own audience imo and only collaborate with other bigger channels As much as they want to help, they should collaborate as the music industry does in a way. I see very few channels of different walks of life collaborate (different content). Which is where the newer channels could absolutely benefit from imo

  • @TheProPilot

    @TheProPilot

    Жыл бұрын

    @@nomore-constipation I agree. But one issue is YT blocks collabs under 1k subscribers soooo makes it difficult to do so. I mean, you can do it regardless, but the smaller channel won't be recognized.

  • @collinrobinson1864

    @collinrobinson1864

    Жыл бұрын

    I agree about the magic of those early years. ‘Dear Strongbad’ was a banger. (:

  • @joshua_thomas

    @joshua_thomas

    Жыл бұрын

    There used to be an event called 'Upload', created by the Sidemen that was probably the closest to a creator event in London. Unfortunately it was stopped after 2017.

  • @caitlinserafino3616

    @caitlinserafino3616

    Жыл бұрын

    I remember sit used to be so hyped up, im not sure what's happened but it seems that KZread has shifted to more large creators/comapnies

  • @Tarkov.
    @Tarkov. Жыл бұрын

    You missed one major income source for some creators: amazon affiliate links. I've seen entire channels based around "rating" rooms/setups and then providing affiliate links for EVERYTHING in the description, pushing viewers to amazon where they can get a cut out of ANY sales made.

  • @JadeEyeland

    @JadeEyeland

    Жыл бұрын

    There is briefly a few images of affiliate links

  • @Random_dud31

    @Random_dud31

    Жыл бұрын

    I don't think Affiliate links make much compared to sponsorships, merch and ad sense. Maybe thats why he just briefly mentioned it

  • @gringa978

    @gringa978

    Жыл бұрын

    It totally makes sense though if you like their microphone and you’re making your own channel and wanna get the same one they share which one they use and get feedback on it.

  • @iulioh

    @iulioh

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Random_dud31 an Amazon affiliate link gives 1-3% depending on the product, this is MASSIVE

  • @runarandersen878

    @runarandersen878

    Жыл бұрын

    True. But I think it depends on the KZreadr. I think “the car wizzard”, a mechanic, makes more on that, than let say a travel channel.

  • @idisagreewiththat
    @idisagreewiththat Жыл бұрын

    2:22 "Served to audiences with particular... interests." Puts up a video of a plane cockpit. I see what you're doing here, Wendover.

  • @moistbrain9297
    @moistbrain9297 Жыл бұрын

    Man, the whole section on merch made me realize why Linus tech tips works so hard on their product lineup, they get to keep all the profits on that while making money off their own advertising in their own videos

  • @PrograError

    @PrograError

    Жыл бұрын

    Well they are big enough that the stocking fees ain't too much, unless it's a engineering dept item ... It's a loss making one.

  • @ferinzz

    @ferinzz

    Жыл бұрын

    he's done several breakdowns of how much of their profit comes from where. Their merch is a massive portion of it, rivaling sponsorships. Ad revenue is a tiny sliver. I think it was something like 30% income from their own products and 50% from sponsors? I can't recall, it's somewhere in a livestream clip and on twitter if you'd like to find it...

  • @nenmaster5218

    @nenmaster5218

    Жыл бұрын

    YT is so F-ed, imagine this: Hatepreacher Kent Hovind got Coverage and Debunks from 1 Trillion KZreadrs, so its no understimatement to say 'Its common sense that hes a Known Hatepreacher', but is he Removed? Nah.

  • @rallen4954

    @rallen4954

    Жыл бұрын

    @@PrograError its also a content generator, I'm guessing you and many other people have seen those video's.

  • @ferinzz

    @ferinzz

    Жыл бұрын

    @TNerd i see someone missed his point.

  • @RichTiger7
    @RichTiger7 Жыл бұрын

    Never in my life have I been so excited to watch the sponsorship portion of a KZread video

  • @TG-uj5fp

    @TG-uj5fp

    Жыл бұрын

    Me too.

  • @swaygfx

    @swaygfx

    Жыл бұрын

    I said the same!

  • @TDMHeyzeus
    @TDMHeyzeus Жыл бұрын

    Dang this stuff about inexperienced creators being ripped off hits close to home.

  • @nuance9000

    @nuance9000

    Жыл бұрын

    Not just inexperienced, but young. Younger than 18, younger than 13, even younger than 8

  • @mcmadness110

    @mcmadness110

    Жыл бұрын

    Machinima

  • @TomCruz54321

    @TomCruz54321

    Жыл бұрын

    Yeah it happens all the time in the music and film industry too. Young artists who have no manager and no knowledge about financials are very easy to trick to signing one-sided contracts.

  • @iammrbeat
    @iammrbeat Жыл бұрын

    Great video. Some of this stuff I didn't even know even though I've been in this biz for awhile now. One thing I always tell small creators who are first getting sponsorship offers is DON'T LET THEM SCREW YOU OVER, because ad agencies absolutely will screw you over if they can. They are able to take advantage of creators because most of us are just happy to be getting money for our work at all. It's sickening how we undersell ourselves and the sponsors/ad agencies don't pay us enough. Oh and Sam, I'm still waiting for that invitation to have my videos on Nebula. 😉

  • @Muslim_israeli

    @Muslim_israeli

    Жыл бұрын

    I've been watching your channel for years, and I have to tell you it's just KZread's gold. I so appreciate your work on your great videos, that sometimes I go back to old videos, to enjoy the moment. Please do not stop, and thanks for your videos.

  • @MrJakson112

    @MrJakson112

    Жыл бұрын

    I really hope they let you on nebula, you're amazing!

  • @WinginWolf

    @WinginWolf

    Жыл бұрын

    HOLY SHIP YOURE HERE TOO

  • @Homer-OJ-Simpson
    @Homer-OJ-Simpson Жыл бұрын

    This is great stuff. I don’t believe I’ve seen a video that really discusses the economics of KZread creators as in depth as this.

  • @tomxu8775

    @tomxu8775

    Жыл бұрын

    @Raytheslay book

  • @bwofficial1776

    @bwofficial1776

    Жыл бұрын

    @Raytheslay This mid what? You didn't finish your sentence.

  • @danieljensen2626

    @danieljensen2626

    Жыл бұрын

    You should check out the Hank Green video he referenced

  • @whom382

    @whom382

    Жыл бұрын

    I have seen individual creators go much more in depth than this on their youtube channels. Also, this video didn't mention a trend I've seen. People stream on Twitch and then chop up that content into youtube videos to double dip on the same content.

  • @PointCrow
    @PointCrow Жыл бұрын

    While short form content is very very much up in the air, super long form (livestreams) is still undecided. As someone dead center in the middle of it, platform wars are definitely happening between KZread Gaming and Twitch right now for the space. If KZread can replicate Twitch's monetization strategy & make their livestreaming experience better, we might see a bunch of platform switching--which is absolutely phenomenal for creators since Amazon & Google are in swift competition to make the best space possible to create content on.

  • @interstellarsurfer

    @interstellarsurfer

    Жыл бұрын

    'best space' for advertisers.

  • @ArchusKanzaki

    @ArchusKanzaki

    Жыл бұрын

    Even right now, YT streaming platform are slowly copying some of the Twitch's most popular features, like Membership gifting, Free Membership Superchat, Emotes, etc. Not everything is here, but its slowly getting increasingly feature-comparable from viewers standpoint. The main problem with YT is facing right now imo, is that YT is still pretty much VOD-dominant platform. You are most likely recommended shorter VOD contents compared to livestreams or livestream VOD in general. I can see that YT are now trying to optimize its algorithm in my feed like trying to recommend me current livestream or current VOD for every second or third videos, but livestream-focused channels is probably some way before having more presence in YT. However, even Twitch streamers still recognize the importance of YT, to monetize their contents more. Clips from Twitch streams, Twitch VODs, etc, can be all repackaged, reposted, on YT for extra income.

  • @Duiker36

    @Duiker36

    Жыл бұрын

    It's up in the air as to which platform will win, sure, but I don't think there's any question that the average person can make a living as a creator of livestreams. It's a lot more questionable whether or not it's possible to do it for TikTok. Ideally speaking, no platform will *win*, but there will be multiple platforms that are viable enough that they'll remain in an arms race for a long time.

  • @Blex_040

    @Blex_040

    Жыл бұрын

    @@ArchusKanzaki Personally, I can't confirm that KZread having trouble with recommending stream VODs. RIght at this moment, 5 of the 10 videos I see in the recommended sidebar on my desktop screen are stream VODs (each > 2h) which makes sense because streams and stream VODs make around 50% of my watch time. But on top of that, those KZread streamers also publish occasional KZread Shorts and mid-length (~10 minutes) KZread videos (as premiers), all on the same channel to diversify the content that can be recommended. And that's something, that currently (and I think for the foreseeable future) only KZread can do for you.

  • @redroyce4590

    @redroyce4590

    Жыл бұрын

    Problem with KZread Gaming is that if i want to watch a livestream from a certain game or creator it's already very difficult just to find it. I find the directory so bad. Though KZread is going the right way with the whole clips & membership thing. But still a long way of. Would be better if they clearly separate streaming & videos at this point.

  • @neonbunnies9596
    @neonbunnies9596 Жыл бұрын

    2:50 This is also because a person watching finance videos signals that they both want to enter economics but doesn't really know it yet. This means they're willing to spend more money in places more educated and experienced people won't, which makes the amount of money they can get from the person incredibly high. This pushes up demand and therefore the RPM. This is also why you see so many 3-minute ads with people and whiteboards in front of finance videos, because if they appeared in other genres, the viewers would either not be interested enough in finance to spend money or simply know better.

  • @Homer-OJ-Simpson

    @Homer-OJ-Simpson

    Жыл бұрын

    I watch a history channel it doesn’t mean I’m willing to spend on history books or material. I watch a finance video, like you said I’m likely looking to do something with money. Perhaps another similar category is travel channels - people watching those are likely looking to spend on travel. I come to wendover or Polymatter or other similar videos just to be educated so It doesn’t indicate I’m interested in buying anything.

  • @neonbunnies9596

    @neonbunnies9596

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Homer-OJ-Simpson people who watch investing video typically want to learn investing strategies that they can use themselves, which therefore leaves advertisers with a inexperienced person willing to spend money with companies they just heard of. That's easy prey

  • @jacobarcher1097

    @jacobarcher1097

    Жыл бұрын

    Easy to dupe, see NFTs and crypto in general

  • @Homer-OJ-Simpson

    @Homer-OJ-Simpson

    Жыл бұрын

    @@neonbunnies9596 easy prey but also those consumers are LITERALLY looking for such products and services.

  • @nuance9000

    @nuance9000

    Жыл бұрын

    The financial channels that sell hopium are far more successful too. Every top KZread financial channel disgusts me. But shout-out to eurodollar university

  • @BL3446
    @BL3446 Жыл бұрын

    As far as 'kid's dream job' goes, KZreadr/Streamer kinda cheats. Lots of kids want to be an actor, singer, or otherwise famous person. KZreadr seems like the least barrier to entry. You dontt have to have specific singing/acting talent, and you don't have to move to Hollywood or find a record label or what have you. However, behind the scenes, the popular KZreadr/Streamer you see all the time is one of the lucky ones. For every streamer with 10000 consistent live views, theres dozens of streamers with

  • @clray123

    @clray123

    Жыл бұрын

    Yes, it's true for all "celebrity" and more generally entertainment, sports or art-related business. High risk, high potential payoff, but extremely low average/typical payoff.

  • @BL3446

    @BL3446

    Жыл бұрын

    @@clray123 Athlete is a good addition. But for generic 'KZreadr' it just looks like any old regular person can do that. And they can, its just very unlikely to be successful.

  • @BLBytes

    @BLBytes

    Жыл бұрын

    Kids also don't watch old media television anymore. Kids tend to spend their time watching online media. Their parents are also less likely to have subscriptions to cable TV, etc. than previous generations. KZreadrs and Twitch streamers are the celebrities to kids today.

  • @pvic6959

    @pvic6959

    Жыл бұрын

    popular youtubers are all survivorship bias lol. we dont see teh ones that fail

  • @PugkinSoup

    @PugkinSoup

    Жыл бұрын

    the idea of it being a dream job is an idealisation, in reality you bend to the will of a company that couldnt care less about you and get the blunt end of more flawed laws like copyright or the idiotic coppa system, making a kids platform yet expecting the regular platform to follow the same kids rules is ridiculous, maybe parents should try caring for their children

  • @bobemmerson1580
    @bobemmerson1580 Жыл бұрын

    I enjoy watching Fact Fiend's "How Not To Do Business" series. It's interesting to see how strict the contracts are, and how small the payments to the creators can be.

  • @kuyayan

    @kuyayan

    Жыл бұрын

    Oy! Im going to check this out!

  • @leirumf5476

    @leirumf5476

    Жыл бұрын

    I love how straight forward that dude iss!

  • @Redrally

    @Redrally

    Жыл бұрын

    All the yes

  • @Ratgibbon

    @Ratgibbon

    Жыл бұрын

    Big Wangers Inc. ftw

  • @GameGrumps
    @GameGrumps Жыл бұрын

    Game Grumps is mostly funded by sticking two fingers into the coin return slot of arcade machines and hoping for the best.

  • @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721

    @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721

    Жыл бұрын

    stonks

  • @newq

    @newq

    Жыл бұрын

    But how did you continue to visit arcades during the height of the Backstreet Boys Reunion Tour?? Weren't they all closed down because everyone was getting tickets?

  • @self1sch

    @self1sch

    Жыл бұрын

    hilarious....

  • @ACE3CGL

    @ACE3CGL

    Жыл бұрын

    Just wait for the boxing sponsorships to come pouring in

  • @robleavold84

    @robleavold84

    Жыл бұрын

    Coin return slot must go wild over 2 fingers. It’s must be a real slot coping 2 fingers from everyone.

  • @TheTaxGeek
    @TheTaxGeek Жыл бұрын

    As a fledgling creator whose channel just monetized a few months ago, I found this video extremely informative. This is exactly the sort of information that should have been presented, but largely wasn't at this year's VidCon, which was the first attendance (and probably the last) for me. It seems to me that the whole emphasis has shifted away from long form educational (or "edutainment") content to short form, which is largely impractical for me. Anyway, I really appreciated the information. Well done, Sam!

  • @bannah6400

    @bannah6400

    Жыл бұрын

    Use the money you get wisely if you do manage to become super successful. Help as many people as you can instead of spending it on excessive luxuries and stuff. Matthew 19:24- "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Don't focus on stacking up treasures here on earth because before you know it everything will be destroyed and all that you had will be lost. Detach from this world and the things in it and follow God. Contemplate how the Roman Empire fulfilled the role of the beast from the sea in Revelation 13. Revelation 17 confirms that it is in fact Rome. From this we can conclude that A) Jesus is the Son of God and can predict the future or make it happen, B) The world leaders have been conspiring together for the last 3000+ years, or C) History and archaeology as we know it is fake. You don't need to speculate though because you can start a relationship with God and have proof. Call on the name of Jesus and pray for Him to intervene in your life, if you can't get a response then make sure you are approaching Him in a humble way. God will ignore you if you don't make a serious attempt - Isaiah 1:15, James 4:8, Micah 3:4. Stop eating food sacrificed to idols (McDonald's Wendy's etc), stop taking pictures of yourself and uploading them to social media (pride, second commandment), start fasting, stop watching obscene content etc. A lot of the things people do in the modern day hold them back from getting a response even though they don't realize it. Take care and God bless!

  • @NachoTV

    @NachoTV

    Жыл бұрын

    It's good to know we didn't miss out on missing vid con it always seemed like a cool convention to learn .

  • @HelloFutureMe
    @HelloFutureMe Жыл бұрын

    Absolutely brilliant breakdown that will really resonate with a lot of smaller creators. Give them clarity they rarely find.

  • @HenrythePaleoGuy

    @HenrythePaleoGuy

    Жыл бұрын

    Absolutely. :)

  • @EspeonMistress00

    @EspeonMistress00

    Жыл бұрын

    @@HenrythePaleoGuy Oiiii Tim! My best friend /j

  • @srofv7805
    @srofv7805 Жыл бұрын

    Never sign contracts that outlast a relationship. When starting, do a short contract so you can learn, then move on and get better rates elsewhere.

  • @KevinStratvert
    @KevinStratvert Жыл бұрын

    Great video, Sam! Love the point on sponsorships. Logically, if someone is sponsoring a video, they’re making more than the sponsorship fee. Good to see more creators start to capture that value themselves through their own product lines. If you don't have your own product to pitch, partnering with a sponsor via affiliate links where you get a cut of the initial sale and renewals is another way to share in the benefit beyond just getting paid for a set amount of views.

  • @WestExplainsBest
    @WestExplainsBest Жыл бұрын

    This was the longest but best Hover ad I have ever seen!

  • @ajotti9037
    @ajotti9037 Жыл бұрын

    As someone who's new to the industry, I've found that a super effective strategy is to use short form content platforms to grow initially because of the reach, then as you begin to grow a good amount, you pivot and begin to create more content on longer form platforms, using TikTok/reels/shorts as a means to push traffic there. Not 100% effective, but it's helped me grow tremendously.

  • @TheNoerdy
    @TheNoerdy Жыл бұрын

    I think you missed one important element: social capital. While KZread may generate more financial capital, TikTok generates much more social capital. Some creators, (especially younger ones) are more drawn to hitting 1000 followers (much easier to do on TikTok) than making $100 on KZread. TikTok made it easy for people to hit 1000, or 10k followers, which is something that many people find invaluable.

  • @iulioh

    @iulioh

    Жыл бұрын

    But is harder to capitalize on tiktok followers. I remember that 1+mil follower tiktok celeb that did a meet and greet and no one showed up

  • @HerbaMachina

    @HerbaMachina

    Жыл бұрын

    @@iulioh that's because most tiktok stars aren't actually famous, they're infamous. Aka most people only follow them to watch their life burn to the ground. Besides that it's well-known at this point that tiktok artificially inflates views and followers with bots so you can't believe someone's # of tiktok followers at face value.

  • @alberts9781

    @alberts9781

    Жыл бұрын

    The fact that your probably right on this on is the very very sad part -_-

  • @dominickvu4911

    @dominickvu4911

    Жыл бұрын

    Yea and after they get a following they move to another platform and diversified. TikTok is a starting point KZread the endgame.

  • @TheNoerdy

    @TheNoerdy

    Жыл бұрын

    @@dominickvu4911 That's not what we are seeing with successful creators though.

  • @Patterrz
    @Patterrz Жыл бұрын

    This is an awesome breakdown, so many KZreadrs are trying to keep up with Tiktok without realising the short form style isn't really best for business

  • @thomaswalsh4552
    @thomaswalsh4552 Жыл бұрын

    17:42 “unsexy cost”. From a guy whose KZread channel is literally just logistics and the exact same kind of dull behind the scenes stuff, and is a widely loved creator because of that.

  • @huddleen
    @huddleen Жыл бұрын

    This is a great overview. I have to say, while the creator life looks great, it seems to me like the vast majority of potential creators will never reach that $4K/month level, and even if they do, thats only $48k a year. For sure there are a few major winners in this economy, but it seems the vast majority of new entrants would be better served by trying to get a good job and potentially doing this as a side hustle.

  • @MahlenMorris

    @MahlenMorris

    Жыл бұрын

    As we used to say when someone declared their desire to be an artist or musician, "Don't quit your day job". Or at least not yet. Not to mention, day jobs are frequently a lot easier than being a content factory.

  • @MaryamMaqdisi

    @MaryamMaqdisi

    Жыл бұрын

    Didn't realize it was only $48k a year until you said it lol. Considering the insane amount of time you need to invest in, not to mention learning new skills or paying a talented team, it doesn't sound like a good deal unless you really like being a content creator.

  • @clray123

    @clray123

    Жыл бұрын

    You need a vast pool of stupid suckas so that the business people can pick out the few stars that they will market to the masses.

  • @nuance9000

    @nuance9000

    Жыл бұрын

    Reaching 1k is better than most retail and warehouse jobs. Owning a business is liberating. And, tbh, you pay less taxes. Also, also you develop a skillet that actually makes you competitive

  • @Luthies

    @Luthies

    Жыл бұрын

    That has pretty much always been the case in the entertainment industry tho, only a few make it big. Nothing new there.

  • @sageDieuvids
    @sageDieuvids Жыл бұрын

    Awesome video - would love to see more in this category. "The insane logistics of producing a Wendover video"

  • @Rdasboss
    @Rdasboss Жыл бұрын

    Watched on nebula, im resistant to ads but nebula worked. I love being able to support multiple creators at once.

  • @eddiecheung8975
    @eddiecheung8975 Жыл бұрын

    5:56 "... Being on camera boosts it, so does injecting more personality into videos, speaking in a less scripted manner does too." List of thing Sam doesn't do

  • @HurrikanEagle

    @HurrikanEagle

    Жыл бұрын

    I just assumed Sam's personality was airplane logistics LOL

  • @noob.168

    @noob.168

    Жыл бұрын

    I'm offended by your comment. Please delete.

  • @ashcheung4325

    @ashcheung4325

    Жыл бұрын

    Well maybe not in Wendover Check HAI

  • @NamaJapan
    @NamaJapan Жыл бұрын

    The differences in value of viewer are a quite interesting topic. Recently I had the chance to talk with people who had a mainly Japanese viewers and others who had mainly Indian viewers. While the channels with Indian subscribers had almost 10 times more subscribers, the Japanese channel had 2-4 times the monthly income. The lesson here is: I should switch my target group to Japanese people.

  • @TomCruz54321

    @TomCruz54321

    Жыл бұрын

    That made me interested in what the ad revenues are in each country.

  • @winters4960

    @winters4960

    Жыл бұрын

    Same with patreon/donations, merch, subscription-service, and affiliate scheme. Donation scheme performs really well for some but it dont work for the other.

  • @bluedna6749

    @bluedna6749

    Жыл бұрын

    Thats because the people in those countries have different purchasing power. An average japanese makes a lot more than an average indian , so they can spend more on the companies/ads promoted on the video which in short results in the creator getting more money too.

  • @sylvy16

    @sylvy16

    Жыл бұрын

    @@bluedna6749 yup, tho i don’t think japanese people earn on average 40x more than indian. As someone who lives in india, people don’t get sucked into paradoxical relationships nearly as much, also many aren’t interested in buying subscriptions, and many products promoted aren’t available here.

  • @Matteo_Licata
    @Matteo_Licata Жыл бұрын

    That’s a long overdue video, as there’s precious little information around the “Creator Economy.” My own channel doesn’t fully sustain my life expenses and probably never will but, regardless, I rank starting Roadster Life as one of my best decisions: I learned a lot, gotten in touch with awesome people and have had a great time doing it. Thank you, and on to the next one 👍

  • @PowerTrain
    @PowerTrain Жыл бұрын

    As a full time creator with a team, i think this video is closest to justifying how complicated creator industry is, and yes it's going to get more than this

  • @shoaibakhtar4389

    @shoaibakhtar4389

    Жыл бұрын

    Aur bhai kaise ho sab badiya

  • @bannah6400

    @bannah6400

    Жыл бұрын

    Use the money you get wisely if you do manage to become super successful. Help as many people as you can instead of spending it on excessive luxuries and stuff. Matthew 19:24- "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Don't focus on stacking up treasures here on earth because before you know it everything will be destroyed and all that you had will be lost. Detach from this world and the things in it and follow God. Contemplate how the Roman Empire fulfilled the role of the beast from the sea in Revelation 13. Revelation 17 confirms that it is in fact Rome. From this we can conclude that A) Jesus is the Son of God and can predict the future or make it happen, B) The world leaders have been conspiring together for the last 3000+ years, or C) History and archaeology as we know it is fake. You don't need to speculate though because you can start a relationship with God and have proof. Call on the name of Jesus and pray for Him to intervene in your life, if you can't get a response then make sure you are approaching Him in a humble way. God will ignore you if you don't make a serious attempt - Isaiah 1:15, James 4:8, Micah 3:4. Stop eating food sacrificed to idols (McDonald's Wendy's etc), stop taking pictures of yourself and uploading them to social media (pride, second commandment), start fasting, stop watching obscene content etc. A lot of the things people do in the modern day hold them back from getting a response even though they don't realize it. Take care and God bless!

  • @bobbytrap283

    @bobbytrap283

    9 ай бұрын

    @@bannah6400 ok

  • @suj2125
    @suj2125 Жыл бұрын

    I’m dying! Where has this channel been all my life? I have literally looked up the past two videos you have made to no avail of finding one that has the exact question I have!! I was getting so frustrated with having to pay for KZread premium and then later finding that I had to listen to ads by the KZread creators thinking that the KZread creators were already making so much money just from their views that it was just simply greed that they started acting as spokes people. Thank you for elucidating this very mysterious side of the KZread creators experience

  • @distortionmusic
    @distortionmusic Жыл бұрын

    Q: “How the Creator Economy Works” A: Squarespace & NordVPN

  • @tomkelly8827
    @tomkelly8827 Жыл бұрын

    As a small farmer who is not a youtube creator, I have also noticed that farmers have been able to sell their services and books far and wide and also have become hubs in their region due to their constant exposure in that field. I also wonder how much Nebula paid you for the inadvertent ad in this video

  • @shaungallagher7988

    @shaungallagher7988

    Жыл бұрын

    He part owns Nebula so Nebula doesnt need to pay him.

  • @simplyincorrigible7708

    @simplyincorrigible7708

    Жыл бұрын

    There's farmers making youtube videos now, like laura farms, about farming. Literally adding to the bottom line.

  • @3hreeO
    @3hreeO Жыл бұрын

    I had never thought about this in so much detail, thanks Wendover.

  • @danieljensen2626
    @danieljensen2626 Жыл бұрын

    Glad you mentioned Hank in relation to this, he has done some excellent videos on the subject. One thing you left out in relation to TikTok is how their creator fund is only something like 5% of their revenue, while KZread shares 50% of ad revenue.

  • @SaveMoneySavethePlanet
    @SaveMoneySavethePlanet Жыл бұрын

    I’m a small time creator and I honestly don’t get how any creators can decide to go full time with their channel. It just feels like that would take all the pleasure and fun out of running my channel. Being able to work on topics which are interesting to me, but may not go viral sounds way better to me than trying to constantly “chase the algorithm.” Everyone has different priorities though I guess.

  • @connormcgee4711

    @connormcgee4711

    Жыл бұрын

    It may be that they don't derive joy from anything else monetizable, so even reduced pleasure and fun is worth it for them. Gaming is an example. I'm not a creator though, am I missing something?

  • @Ubeogesh

    @Ubeogesh

    Жыл бұрын

    if you go viral you will get your important topic to a wider audience tho

  • @Homer-OJ-Simpson

    @Homer-OJ-Simpson

    Жыл бұрын

    If you had 10,000 subscribers and then 100,000 subscribers, you might have a different opinion at that time.

  • @secondsein7749

    @secondsein7749

    Жыл бұрын

    You say that now since you haven't gone viral but once it does and you got the 'fix', then you'll start to understand why creators chase the algorithm. Thing is, human goals change. At first sure people would say they only do things for passion and wouldn't care if it wasn't known, but then they realize that there is also joy in people knowing and liking your passion project. After that, your passion of creating and 'marketing' is linked. What's the purpose of you doing something you like if people don't like it?

  • @SaveMoneySavethePlanet

    @SaveMoneySavethePlanet

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Ubeogesh that’s definitely true. But going viral isn’t exactly the same as betting your whole paycheck on the chance to go viral. That’s what I’m trying to get at. So don’t get me wrong. I’d LOVE to grow…I just don’t want to get into the position where I have to grow or else I lose my ability to feed myself.

  • @dingbattery
    @dingbattery Жыл бұрын

    Thank you so much for making the ONE video I've been wanting someone to make for years! This is also the one video where I WANTED to watch and pay attention to every single ad while I contemplated its value to you. And I learned so much more than I thought there was to learn about being a content creator! (To clarify, I'm not one.) So really, thank you so much! (One thing, though. That is not at all how you pronounce Simone Giertz. From one of her videos, it's pronounced "Yetch".)

  • @archiegeorge3969
    @archiegeorge3969 Жыл бұрын

    I would love to know the Hover conversion rate for this add. We were all just wondering what programs you were going to hype for the Nebula/Curiosity Stream bundle, but then you took us on an unexpected trip to Domain Town!

  • @skullmanjaros
    @skullmanjaros Жыл бұрын

    I love videos like this where the comments are littered with huge creators talking about how much they enjoyed. Its really endearing to learn that some of the biggest creators are themselves also consumers

  • @clipperdip
    @clipperdip Жыл бұрын

    I somehow see this video becoming a billion view video pretty damn fast. After 10 years this was by far the best video on this topic made, well done!

  • @thejesuschrist
    @thejesuschrist Жыл бұрын

    100% of my ad-sense, super chat, super thanks, etc. goes directly to charity.

  • @vikingursigurdsson

    @vikingursigurdsson

    Жыл бұрын

    That's very cash money of ya Jesus

  • @revenger211

    @revenger211

    Жыл бұрын

    J-dawg, love you man

  • @strangekid35

    @strangekid35

    Жыл бұрын

    What ab the cameos

  • @uvbe

    @uvbe

    Жыл бұрын

    thanks jesus

  • @iamgreatalwaysgreat8209

    @iamgreatalwaysgreat8209

    Жыл бұрын

    What else can we expect From Jesus?

  • @guiximenes
    @guiximenes Жыл бұрын

    Simply, the best video on summarizing what the creator economy is. Thank you so much for this content!

  • @Maxaldojo
    @Maxaldojo Жыл бұрын

    So much to learn! Thanks for prying off the top and giving us a look inside, Sam.

  • @The_Horizon
    @The_Horizon Жыл бұрын

    im just pissed that the moment I happened to live near a vidcon, I also happened to move.

  • @phoenix1782

    @phoenix1782

    Жыл бұрын

    how many times did you move exactly

  • @FlavorLab
    @FlavorLab Жыл бұрын

    As a creator this was extremely interesting to watch.

  • @G_FRE

    @G_FRE

    Жыл бұрын

    Looking at your channel, we use the same ceramic small bowls. Love those little things.

  • @spontaneousadventurouskid
    @spontaneousadventurouskid Жыл бұрын

    I wish i had seen your video earlier because throughout the past year, i have been doing creator economy research and was only able to find 50 % of the information in this video, including creators making money through their own merch. I'm definitely subscribing.

  • @ahernandez50
    @ahernandez50 Жыл бұрын

    Great video guys, full of details and really helps to understand the economics of the creator industry.

  • @eguy8387
    @eguy8387 Жыл бұрын

    Would love a video about how KZread and other platforms “monitor” their content. “The cleaners” is a cool movie on this subject. Just be cool to look at the economics of how much it costs to do the monitoring they do

  • @KiLLJoYYouTube

    @KiLLJoYYouTube

    Жыл бұрын

    let me answer this for you: They don’t. They do the bare minimum and no more.

  • @nitropicxd

    @nitropicxd

    Жыл бұрын

    its just a bot that scans the video and audio for violence sexual and child content

  • @ShaunCheah

    @ShaunCheah

    Жыл бұрын

    Well that just shifts the question slightly: what is defined as the bare minimum, what interesting things lie just beyond it, and what is work like for the people who actually have to make the decisions to enforce that distinction?

  • @dsnodgrass4843

    @dsnodgrass4843

    Жыл бұрын

    @@KiLLJoYKZread That's not an answer, it's a brushoff.

  • @pvic6959

    @pvic6959

    Жыл бұрын

    youtube has gotten a lot better. i remember stumbling across straight up adult videos back in like 2012 lol. i sont see that sort of thing anymore

  • @Patrick_3751
    @Patrick_3751 Жыл бұрын

    "KZread has successfully developed a platform that earns creators more." Yeah, tell that to history creators who routinely get their videos demonetized for producing "inappropriate content."

  • @themasterofdisastr1226

    @themasterofdisastr1226

    Жыл бұрын

    Hope I dont burst any bubbles, but that wss going to happen: Either you give full adsense to anyone (didnt work out) OR you moderate. Any since its not viable to do this manually, you have to use an Ai, which is ALWAYS more A than I. Aka: false positives/negatives. Ofc. this depends on content and targeted audience.

  • @eggtarts286

    @eggtarts286

    Жыл бұрын

    @themasterofdisastr Timeghost History runs a fairly well researched and one of the more comprehensive channels for both World Wars. They, like some other history channels, provide content that can truly be said to be a professional service for the viewers. Because they cover war crimes as well, however, they get regularly demonetized. The result is that they have to rely on fundraisers, sponsor sites and auctions where other channels can use publicity stunts or similarly spastic content to supplement their income. I suppose the phenomenon was inevitable, but it does leave a sour taste.

  • @redhotdevilwoman03
    @redhotdevilwoman03 Жыл бұрын

    I'm a longtime subscriber and huge fan of ALL your content and I wanted to thank you for this video especially. I finally feel like I have a clue. You do such an amazing job of explaining things in a way that someone like me who feels like I'm listening to an alien language when trying to get it, can finally understand the way it works. Keep up the excellent work. Love, Peace, and Chicken grease! ❣❣❣

  • @TheAnakinn
    @TheAnakinn Жыл бұрын

    Really great video! What I'd also be interested in is something you mentioned in the transition to your sponsor: The costs behind making videos. Now we know how much money KZread creators can expect to make with their videos. But how much of that is really yours to keep and how much do you have to reinvest to keep the content coming?

  • @lazercheesecake
    @lazercheesecake Жыл бұрын

    You're doing God's work! No one else with your outreach has done a video like this and its a shame considering its 2022!!! Thank you so much for revealing the secrecy behind YT monetization

  • @stickynorth
    @stickynorth Жыл бұрын

    I wish more channels were willing to peak behind the curtain of OZ (or at least its accounting department) to give us some idea of the economic realities of our favourite channels! Good on ya!

  • @mosesracal6758

    @mosesracal6758

    Жыл бұрын

    I follow this channel called Kaisercat Cinema and they basically make althistory videos. They often do these "state of the channel" videos regularly and its basically just a financial report. Theyve been struggling for a quite a while now but its something I always loved about that channel.

  • @Sietches
    @Sietches Жыл бұрын

    This is a very good overview on the creator economy. Good job!

  • @smitchered
    @smitchered Жыл бұрын

    Perfectly timed! This will be quite helpful, fascinating as always, thank you Wendover!

  • @evanbelcher
    @evanbelcher Жыл бұрын

    It's really interesting that you have basically gone against every method of strengthening parasocial relationships on this channel (although on HAI you do inject more personality at least). I don't know if that is in any sense "good" or "bad", but it's definitely interesting!

  • @rickascii

    @rickascii

    Жыл бұрын

    Wendover is more of a reference video essay channel than anything personality-driven so it makes sense that Sam wouldn't drive parasocial relationships here. That's a less profitable strategy on the whole because it can't really leverage parasociality without severely compromising the tone.

  • @nuance9000

    @nuance9000

    Жыл бұрын

    Well I'm pretty anti-parasocial, since most KZreadrs fake it til they make it. I'll click away from a video if they're an embarrassing influencer.

  • @h.inusitatus

    @h.inusitatus

    Жыл бұрын

    @@rickascii It also has its niche. Not everyone wants KZreadrs to pretend to be their buddies. Or they're okay with some, but not all. Sam does both, anyway, just on different channels.

  • @pulsar9681

    @pulsar9681

    Жыл бұрын

    there's also a lot of personality on the jet lag channel

  • @RobertoBlake
    @RobertoBlake Жыл бұрын

    This is a great video. My RPM on my main channel and podcast are $15 or more. At this point I think most FullTime creators don’t use Adsense as their anchor but brand deals.

  • @Z3RO_Myth

    @Z3RO_Myth

    Жыл бұрын

    But, can KZreadrs make good money off their brand deals, partnerships, and sponsorships alone?

  • @josevns95
    @josevns95 Жыл бұрын

    I had never seen so many creators commenting a video. From my perspective this is a clear sign of the quality of this channel. Incredible work.

  • @pineapplepotato6985
    @pineapplepotato6985 Жыл бұрын

    15:37 smoothest plug of all time. I'm subscribing immediately.

  • @KiLLJoYYouTube
    @KiLLJoYYouTube Жыл бұрын

    The harsh reality people need to accept is that unless you’re attractive, talented or funny, you’re not going to make money on KZread. 99% of the people who try don’t even come close.

  • @darthfox45

    @darthfox45

    Жыл бұрын

    Tell me more!

  • @dsnodgrass4843

    @dsnodgrass4843

    Жыл бұрын

    True in the mainstream, but not always. Specific niche-interest channels can get very popular without their hosts being particularly charismatic or attractive; so long as they're well-grounded in the subject and can maintain a rapport with the subculture around it.

  • @bwofficial1776

    @bwofficial1776

    Жыл бұрын

    It's like the people who want to play professional sports or be famous musicians. Statistically it's not going to happen. You also have to have true skill, not just think you're good at something.

  • @KiLLJoYYouTube

    @KiLLJoYYouTube

    Жыл бұрын

    @@bwofficial1776 Or any field that runs on names instead of content. It’s all about the creator, not the content. I could make a video tomorrow that gets 100M views in 2 hours doing a funny prank, and 24 hours later a thousand channels will be out and about filming the exact same thing to piggyback on it.

  • @TheBfutgreg

    @TheBfutgreg

    Жыл бұрын

    @@dsnodgrass4843 AKA talented.....people need a reason to watch a video, it's not surprising or "unfair" at all

  • @noah8260
    @noah8260 Жыл бұрын

    This video is so meta it’s insane

  • @switzerland
    @switzerland Жыл бұрын

    I love the filter bubble. I barely know most of these KZreadr's. But I know Wendover, and I love it.

  • @prettykittycakes
    @prettykittycakes Жыл бұрын

    I have always wondered this exact question!! Thank you as always for great content!!

  • @spencerthompson8596
    @spencerthompson8596 Жыл бұрын

    Wow you make more money than I thought off these videos… Well deserved, Sam. Keep up the good work

  • @EKC2024
    @EKC2024 Жыл бұрын

    As a youtuber, I always wondered this & found this interesting & this is soo cool! Thank you!

  • @frivolousarguments8578

    @frivolousarguments8578

    Жыл бұрын

    How did you not know this?

  • @morezco
    @morezco Жыл бұрын

    I had 1000% my usual tolerance for an ad after this class on the subject

  • @luka1000car
    @luka1000car Жыл бұрын

    Great info right here, never understood the whole Merch/Business part but it does make sense economically and psychologically

  • @apexsyndicate1055
    @apexsyndicate1055 Жыл бұрын

    Can you do logistics of planning/running two weekends of Coachella & one weekend of stagecoach?

  • @masterimbecile

    @masterimbecile

    Жыл бұрын

    Half of the budget probably goes into cleaning up

  • @wanderer.antonio
    @wanderer.antonio Жыл бұрын

    Dude, I feel like I’m living in a dystopian corporate run world where all knowledge is hidden behind paywalls… Good Morning children! Today’s class consists of learning addition!! But before that, let us give thanks to Souleech Juices for sponsoring today’s lesson!

  • @MahlenMorris

    @MahlenMorris

    Жыл бұрын

    You may feel that way, but nearly all knowledge is actually available outside of KZread.

  • @seneca983

    @seneca983

    Жыл бұрын

    If the monetization is through ads then it's actually *not* behind a paywall.

  • @Karlach_

    @Karlach_

    Жыл бұрын

    It's literally not. Most knowledge is still free. What you're paying for when you go to, lets say, college, is for all the effort and time your teachers put into compiling and organizing the knowledge of the field(s) you're studying as well as for the teacher's ability to efficiently and effectively explain the compiled and organized knowledge to you and others. If you don't want to pay for college, you don't have too. Literally every single thing you learned in college is available for free on the internet. It's just that you will have to be the one who hunts down all of free floating and spread out bits of knowledge on the topic(s) you're studying and that takes A LOT of time to do so and you can never be entirely sure that you didn't miss out on something crucial. But still, if you put in the time and are careful, you can become self-taught in most things and be as good or better as someone who paid for college. One of my favorite examples of this is Eric Barone, the man who made the video game Stardew Valley. He didn't know anything about things like sound design, game design, editing, writing, coding, etc. but he learned each one by himself over a number of years and made an incredibly successful and popular game and has complete financial security and can work on his next passion project, Haunted Chocolatier. :)

  • @Dancing_Alone_wRentals
    @Dancing_Alone_wRentals Жыл бұрын

    Hej Hej,....This video was much better than I expected. tHanks for posting it and all the work you all put in it. Happy New Year, wishing you good health and even more great ideas!

  • @andrewhammer4634
    @andrewhammer4634 Жыл бұрын

    watching Wendover and seeing so much Thomas Frank... man it doesn't get much better

  • @TheWeeky
    @TheWeeky Жыл бұрын

    While many might say that "ugh, those stupid kids just wanna become youtubers/streamers/whatever", I think it's a pretty valid dream. No doubt being a somewhat big creator, let a lone a big one, is still a hard job, I imagine it's a thousand times better than sitting in an office doing practically the same stuff for many years, no wonder kids dream to become such creators, you start out doing what you actually like/love and if it all goes well, you continue doing that but you are much more successful, if not, then you are doing something you like less but still you are successful.

  • @ajrobbins368
    @ajrobbins368 Жыл бұрын

    I sincerely appreciate the quality of each and every Wendover Productions video.

  • @maxstr
    @maxstr Жыл бұрын

    Thank you for this video, for some reason this is one of the most rarely covered topics on KZread.

  • @Jacob-McGregor
    @Jacob-McGregor Жыл бұрын

    Nice to finally see an in depth discussion about this

  • @VarsVerum
    @VarsVerum Жыл бұрын

    On one hand, it feels kind of disheartening for a once intimate platform with personable creators to become so... "corporatized" in a sense but on the other, it's only lending more credence to content creation being the modern day California Gold Rush. Everyone wants to do it because everyone has a chance to make it. Honestly you don't even have to be a 1m+ sub channel making millions of views per video. Half, or even a quarter of those numbers is enough for any KZreadr to live large. Obviously it's in the creator's best interest to maximize their earnings so long as it's available, but I don't think anyone would complain about making that original 11,000$ per video. Heck all of us would take 10% of that. 1000$ per video, make 100 videos (or 1 video every 3-4 days) and you have a 100k income right there, with almost no overhead unless you're paying editors.

  • @jordanb722

    @jordanb722

    Жыл бұрын

    The problem will be that, IMO, we're probably already pretty close to peak attention on YT and other platforms. Maybe it doubles again from here, but there's only so many people and so much time to watch videos. Extra money will come from either more valuable advertising or at the expense of other creators - I suspect it's only going to get harder to break into being a creator, and it's fairly likely IMO that only high value, high effort creators are likely to continue breaking into the big time, which is probably not going to work for the vast majority of people wanting to be creators.

  • @codytappen

    @codytappen

    Жыл бұрын

    One video every 3-4 days is an incredible amount of time and effort to dedicate for just 100k. There are far better ways to make money if that’s what you’re after (and you have the level of commitment and skill to make decently popular KZread videos that regularly)

  • @codytappen

    @codytappen

    Жыл бұрын

    I make 100k putting in minimum time and effort into an entry level developer position; I’d have to be way more skilled, driven, and intelligent AND I would have to work at least 30 more hours a week to have a chance at that level of income on youtube

  • @kineticdeath
    @kineticdeath Жыл бұрын

    i HATE short videos, its why i really am opposed to youtube "shorts" and get frustrated when the youtube homepage tosses a bunch of 20 second or less videos at me. I much prefer long videos and they are pretty much all i watch

  • @andreifilip6364
    @andreifilip6364 Жыл бұрын

    Great video, but I came here just to say, I really liked the way you handled the end sponsor pitch :) very good job!

  • @AlexPriceMusician
    @AlexPriceMusician Жыл бұрын

    This was by far the best video I've watched this year.

  • @allenliu4956
    @allenliu4956 Жыл бұрын

    Is this the first time Wendover Productions referenced itself in the main body of a video?

  • @tgheretford
    @tgheretford Жыл бұрын

    I do wonder how the forthcoming downturns and recessions are going to impact content. It'll primarily hit both advertising and subscription revenue at a time where we are heading more toward cramming videos with advertisements or increasingly turning to a subscription model. When its a decision of heating, filling the car with fuel or eating compared to a subscription fee, the fee will go. And advertisers having to cut their marketing budgets will also herald the end of the profitability of many a content creator at a time when KZread is increasingly making it clear that the good times of effectively free, unlimited hosting is coming to an end and everything must justify its existence via profitability.

  • @nuance9000

    @nuance9000

    Жыл бұрын

    I'm pretty onboard with the content creator bubble. Curiosity stream can go bankrupt, and the big tech companies will value (hire) the top 100 creators more than the top 10'000. But I think this is a good thing long term, since a lower ad fee means more small businesses will advertise on social media. Some of my favorite KZread channels just use the platform to advertise their small business

  • @bwofficial1776

    @bwofficial1776

    Жыл бұрын

    @@nuance9000 Not everyone can be a content creator. Too many people get their hopes up thinking that they can make a few videos, hit it big, and suddenly be able to buy a mansion with their earnings. It's like the people who want to be a major league sports star or a world-famous rapper. Numerically and talent-wise the odds are highly against them. Some might make it big and that's great but what about the other 99.9% who spent their time and money on something that went nowhere instead of learning a useful skill?

  • @CintreuseGrande
    @CintreuseGrande Жыл бұрын

    I have watched at least 90% of your videos. This was by far the most fascinating video as I know very little on the subject. Keep making awesome stuff Sam 😊❤

  • @addysaw
    @addysaw Жыл бұрын

    I literally learn so much from this channel and find it so interesting, despite the fact that they are about subjects that are not relatable to me.

  • @ojas8578
    @ojas8578 Жыл бұрын

    These videos are so awesome!

  • @movement2contact

    @movement2contact

    Жыл бұрын

    @Raytheslay Whose are good..?

  • @movement2contact

    @movement2contact

    Жыл бұрын

    @Raytheslay 🤔

  • @priyamohan
    @priyamohan Жыл бұрын

    I hadn't heard of the term parasocial relationship until this video! But wow, is that a minefield! I wonder if platforms like Facebook, Instagram or KZread measure the intensity of these parasocial relationships / interactions. It might be something that can help handle some of the negative psychological effects and possibly misinformation that social media use has been correlated with.

  • @Kanbei11

    @Kanbei11

    Жыл бұрын

    Knowing Better has a good and in depth video about parasocial relationship

  • @jmanj3917
    @jmanj3917 Жыл бұрын

    I've been considering getting into the mix. Thank you for explaining how it works!

  • @waffenwafflesreal
    @waffenwafflesreal Жыл бұрын

    I love the transparancy guys!

  • @xaninator
    @xaninator Жыл бұрын

    The thing about TikTok is that everyone knows it is a fad. Even as just a consumer and not a creator I can see this. KZread won't last forever, but it will definitely outlast TikTok.

  • @dannydaw59

    @dannydaw59

    Жыл бұрын

    Tik tok is owned by the CCP. I won't go near it. I cringed when I saw my neice on it.

  • @uku4171

    @uku4171

    Жыл бұрын

    I'm not so sure. On one hand, literally every other social media platfirm copied them (except Twitter maybe). Even Reddit, where it doesn't fit at all. On the other hand, I think the format itself will last for a while, since our attention spans are so short now. From what I understand TikTok's recommendation algorithm is also doing a good job at helping new creators. KZread Shorts's attempt at that only shows me a bunch of bots, Family Guy clips, and kids playing mobile games. TikTok is also owned by a very big company, that's basically an Asian Meta competitor, so they'll be pretty resilient to changing trends. They even bought a VR company (Pico, which is looking at expanding to Europe as a Quest 2 competitor) like Facebook did with Oculus. There is also a generation of people who are growing up with TikTok and a whole bunch of people who rely on it for income.

  • @Putt-Putt

    @Putt-Putt

    Жыл бұрын

    TikTok > Instagram Reels/KZread Shorts

  • @TomCruz54321

    @TomCruz54321

    Жыл бұрын

    @@uku4171 You're right that social media platforms are copying Tiktok, but I don't think the short format fits KZread. Every time I see an interesting short, I always comment "I wish there was a full version of this topic". In Tiktok that's fine because their content is usually just people dancing for 10 seconds, but for KZread, a 10 second factoid is not very interesting.

  • @robertoXCX

    @robertoXCX

    Жыл бұрын

    I'm gonna have to go ahead and disagree on TikTok being a fad. It's like the perfect app. They just need to get the monetization figured out.

  • @Melchirobin
    @Melchirobin Жыл бұрын

    I would say the video is slightly misleading at 11:30 since musically was what launched in US app stores and was later bought out by Tiktok in 2018

  • @hammockkitty8722
    @hammockkitty8722 Жыл бұрын

    Ludwig's gonna love this one

  • @shinevisionsv
    @shinevisionsv Жыл бұрын

    13:12 Don't you hate it when you forget to press record😂

  • @dominic.h.3363
    @dominic.h.3363 Жыл бұрын

    Lifetime total of services/products I ended up paying for, based on random exposure: 9 (or more) Lifetime total of services/products I ended up paying for, based on targeted internet advertisements / recommendations of an influencer: 0 Maybe it's just me, but I trust a depersonalised/untargeted advertisement more, because it has the impression to be more impartial (even if it has the better chances to communicate falsity), as opposed to when I see it endorsed by a specific someone who was PAID to endorse it. I actually unsubscribed from creators with millions of followers based on their habit of speaking in superlatives about generally poorly performing products that are the epitome of hot garbage. Affiliation is an automatic reason for me to dismiss what anyone has to say about a product/service. I SPECIFICALLY avoid video reviews of any product where the reviewer so much as has the tendency to favor that brand, and I read the 2-3 star reviews on Amazon first. I'm surprised that this is not the norm.

  • @nuance9000

    @nuance9000

    Жыл бұрын

    The right arrow key is your friend. Or double tapping you screen. I click away during normal ads, since KZread loves playing ads that always trigger me

  • @bwofficial1776

    @bwofficial1776

    Жыл бұрын

    I fast forward past ads, even if it's something I'm in the market for. Now, if that channel habitually uses a brand or buys a particular thing for a project and explains why they chose it, that ranks higher for me. If they habitually use a brand and get a sponsorship because they're users of that brand, I can understand that. I have great respect for reviewers that give negative reviews to things they were sent. They could have said "it's great" and kept it and what was to come but they had the integrity to say that something sucks. If the company doesn't like that, they don't get anything in the future but that's fine.

  • @dominic.h.3363

    @dominic.h.3363

    Жыл бұрын

    @@bwofficial1776 Reviewers who budget their own reviews and the reviews aren't solicited are on my radar. Gamers Nexus comes to mind. But I will never even look in the direction of Rayconn earbuds, won't even check out curiosity stream, etc.

  • @dominic.h.3363

    @dominic.h.3363

    Жыл бұрын

    @@nuance9000 Nah, ublock origin is my friend. Sponsorblock is my friend. Your friends are just the equivalent of sticking your fingers into your ears and closing your eyes.

  • @javiermontiero4982
    @javiermontiero4982 Жыл бұрын

    Thanks for breaking this down for me. I don't watch TV and I don't use any streaming platforms like Netflix or whatever. The ONLY thing I use is KZread and it is NOT because I like YT. I absolutely loathe and despise it. I use it because back before I became privy to the insidious nature of YT, I had amassed a library of channels I really respected. Once I began learning what YT does to independent channels, I decided to keep using YT only to support those poor channels being shat on and abused by YT. But I haven't understood the specifics of how it all works so I've often wondered if my efforts have helped them at all or only gone to support YT. I want to support the channels, not the platform. So I do as much as I can for the channels that doesn't do too much for the platform itself. As hard as that is to accomplish. But this helps provide me clarity on what to do and what not to do. I want to oppose YT as much as I possibly can without abandoning the little guys being crushed by the uncaring hands of YT execs. (also, I love the idea of Nebula but as a subscriber for a few months now, it is just an awful app. Please update it and make it more functional. It's constantly crashing, restarting videos, the library feature shows me videos I'm not even following, and so on. The app needs a lot of work)

  • @JoesPhenomenal
    @JoesPhenomenal Жыл бұрын

    Thanks for this video! Super well done... Makes me feel pretty good about my own channel, actually. My RPMs are well above your hypothetical example... Guess I'm lucky with my interests!

  • @MysticMylesZ
    @MysticMylesZ Жыл бұрын

    10:00 oh... that explains why around around me seemed to love it while I had no idea what it was