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I treat my media creation as a business. Hours in and ROI are important, especially since I have a family and also try to keep their lives out of my online pres

I treat my media creation as a business. Hours in and ROI are important, especially since I have a family and also try to keep their lives out of my online presence. I looked at adding occasional Twitch livestreams to my output but quickly realized to make it return any kind of sustainable income, you have to practically "become a streamer". There's no slow on-ramp like with YouTube, where you could start earning income after a few weeks/months of producing content and promoting it, growing an audience. And then if you want to pause YouTube for a month or two, you don't lose the metrics that allow you to have an income. It seems like Twitch is a grind, a lot more so than YouTube (where there's enough pressure, thank you very much!), and unless you're fully devoted to it, or are single and/or young with a lot of time to burn (and very mature about how you burn it), it's going to be very hard to maintain any kind of work life balance.

minton 4y ago
A friend wants to start a channel. My instinct was that’s a very long shot (pointless even), but I told them I’d help if I could. Any advice for starting on YouTube?
- bombcar 4y ago
  Find an underserved niche and start feeding it.
- cosmojg 4y ago
  Same as any other business: give the people what they want, ideally something no one else is giving them. Otherwise, just do it for yourself, go hard, go deep, and hope for the best.
- cfpg 4y ago
  Do your thing, use your free time and don't expect anything.
- donkeyd 4y ago
  Tell them to make the videos they're missing on Youtube. If there's already 100 people making that exact video, then there's no gap to fill. Anything else can bring in some money (if you play it right). I personally made some videos showcasing specific products I used in my hobby. I made video's that showed them in a way I wanted to see on Youtube before buying, but couldn't find. I then added some affiliate links in the description. These video's brought in some money that I then spent on other stuff for the hobby. Don't expect to earn a living wage off Youtube. You have to get very lucky (or be incredibly good, see 'Stuff Made Here') to do that. Earning some money is quite doable though, if you find the right niche.
- corobo 4y ago
  Your first 100 videos will be awful. Quantity over quality[1] until you hit that. Not for specific reasons, just because you're learning. If you've gotta go through hell, go fast. [1] videos still need to be watchable ofc. E: what is watchable though? Begin, middle, end. Intro, stakes, hook, call to action, meat and potatoes, another cta, summary and seeya next time, don't forget to like and subscribe. Keep a sense engaged, audio or video should always have something happening. Dead air is the sound of viewers leaving. Reengage the audience after each scene change. When in doubt, have a countdown to something. Show the remaining time wherever you get bored watching it back. Record everything, edit to nothing. Make the video the shortest it can be while still watchable. Believing effort is equal to reward is an express train to burnout.
jack_pp 4y ago
Maybe youtube streaming is the answer, produce unedited streams some time when you feel like it, hire an editor or edit yourself if you have the time to get the highlights and it might also help grow your youtube audience which will bring in some passive income. I agree twitch isn't sustainable or even good for anyone. I've been caught in it and quite addicted for the past year, finding in it another form of escapism that's in my opinion more harmful than youtube. On youtube eventually I run out of stuff and grow bored for a while. On twitch that rarely happens, mainly because it's more engaging to watch something live than a youtube highlight of the game, I can interact with chat live and backseat the gamers even though I'm ignored most of the time that's more engaging than passively watching a youtube video where I can provide no input.
rexreed 4y ago
I remember in another thread you mentioned that you're doing YouTube pretty much full time but you also said ad revenue isn't that much, so I'm still curious if it really is worth it financially and if so, what the best monetization is, especially for another techie looking to produce YouTube content. Is it worth it these days?

minton 4y ago

A friend wants to start a channel. My instinct was that’s a very long shot (pointless even), but I told them I’d help if I could. Any advice for starting on YouTube?

bombcar 4y ago
Find an underserved niche and start feeding it.
cosmojg 4y ago
Same as any other business: give the people what they want, ideally something no one else is giving them. Otherwise, just do it for yourself, go hard, go deep, and hope for the best.
cfpg 4y ago
Do your thing, use your free time and don't expect anything.
donkeyd 4y ago
Tell them to make the videos they're missing on Youtube. If there's already 100 people making that exact video, then there's no gap to fill. Anything else can bring in some money (if you play it right). I personally made some videos showcasing specific products I used in my hobby. I made video's that showed them in a way I wanted to see on Youtube before buying, but couldn't find. I then added some affiliate links in the description. These video's brought in some money that I then spent on other stuff for the hobby. Don't expect to earn a living wage off Youtube. You have to get very lucky (or be incredibly good, see 'Stuff Made Here') to do that. Earning some money is quite doable though, if you find the right niche.
corobo 4y ago
Your first 100 videos will be awful. Quantity over quality[1] until you hit that. Not for specific reasons, just because you're learning. If you've gotta go through hell, go fast. [1] videos still need to be watchable ofc. E: what is watchable though? Begin, middle, end. Intro, stakes, hook, call to action, meat and potatoes, another cta, summary and seeya next time, don't forget to like and subscribe. Keep a sense engaged, audio or video should always have something happening. Dead air is the sound of viewers leaving. Reengage the audience after each scene change. When in doubt, have a countdown to something. Show the remaining time wherever you get bored watching it back. Record everything, edit to nothing. Make the video the shortest it can be while still watchable. Believing effort is equal to reward is an express train to burnout.

jack_pp 4y ago

Maybe youtube streaming is the answer, produce unedited streams some time when you feel like it, hire an editor or edit yourself if you have the time to get the highlights and it might also help grow your youtube audience which will bring in some passive income. I agree twitch isn't sustainable or even good for anyone. I've been caught in it and quite addicted for the past year, finding in it another form of escapism that's in my opinion more harmful than youtube. On youtube eventually I run out of stuff and grow bored for a while. On twitch that rarely happens, mainly because it's more engaging to watch something live than a youtube highlight of the game, I can interact with chat live and backseat the gamers even though I'm ignored most of the time that's more engaging than passively watching a youtube video where I can provide no input.

rexreed 4y ago

I remember in another thread you mentioned that you're doing YouTube pretty much full time but you also said ad revenue isn't that much, so I'm still curious if it really is worth it financially and if so, what the best monetization is, especially for another techie looking to produce YouTube content. Is it worth it these days?