Running a youtube channel: a honest overview of costs, time investment, and revenue.
Вставка
- Опубліковано 5 сер 2024
- In this episode we look at the reality of running a youtube channel, including what youtube pays the channel :0.
0:00:00 Intro & equipment needed
0:05:44 Time investment
0:12:03 Costs of running a channel
0:15:03 UA-cams pay structure
0:21:02 Actual pay
0:26:43 Extra ways to make money
0:27:59 My background/qualifications
0:32:12 Conclusion
Thank You for not resorting to CLICKBAIT or any other form of cheesy ways to gain or draw in views.
The majority of us are finding your channel and subscribing because we are all seeking knowledge and inspiration.
Your content and video titles are what attracts us to your channel and I’m sure many would agree that your style is like hanging out with a buddy and not about BS content!
In short, you inspire us to be better people and welder/fabricators.
I for one applauded your entire approach and find it quite refreshing.
Thank You
That 950 or so a month is actually better than I actually thought it would be. In fact I think You Tube taking 32% is very fair, assuming as it was discussed , if they are honest.
I've been thinking about doing a UA-cam channel to offset my hobby, just like you were talking about. Like you I rent shop space, for only a little more than the price you pay. (And here in Sacramento rents are crazy high, so I'm probably getting a heck of a deal)
But based on that level of money, it makes me feel that it's reasonable I could significantly offset the money I dump into my hobby. My fiance still probably will keep telling me it's a waste of money. 😂 But at least it will be less money.
Along the lines of what you discussed, it brings up two points.
You were saying maybe someone doesn't think they are particularly smart. But most people KNOW SOMETHING that they have learned thorough some combination of study (whether it be looking on the internet, or being taught by a friend) and hard experience (when study fails you just have to take your best guess and try something and keep trying until you find something that works, for whatever it is your doing) The cool thing about the Internet is that people can share that experience and knowledge, whatever it is. Maybe you know how to do a cool trick with formulas in Excel. Or how to make fishing lures. Whatever it is, some else would like to know how you did it.
The second point is just sort of a tangentially related topic. You mention "you can't get hired for a job you didn't apply for". That's excellent advice. But I also give people a piece of related advice. You can't refuse a job that you didn't apply for. So I suggest that people apply for jobs that might not really be what they want , but they can't rule out wanting in the future as you never know what the future holds. There's probably a bit of relevance even to trying side hustles like a you tube channel. (You don't have to apply, but you can certainly turn it down, that is, try it and decide you don't like it. )
I have to say ,I'm particularly impressed by how practical your channel is. And this video is right along those lines.
And as far as the negative people, they just are not worth their time. There are people that just like to be obnoxious and I silt people it has literally nothing to do with the quality or lack of quality of what they are criticizing.
I saw this channel about music and guitar equipment. She was just about the most knowledgeable. personable and strait up adorable and cute UA-camr I've ever seen. And of course there were obnoxious trolls insulting her demeanor and appearance and her expertise. And what was obvious was. It had nothing to do with her. It was about them, and their sick desire to try and some random girl they had never met feel bad. It was obvious. So everyone should remember. Those people are out there. But they are not someone to be bothered by. Just ignore them. Or pity them, because they probably lead a sad and miserable life.
My old dad said about the same as you, “it’s not what you make, it’s what you save”. Bless you for what you do, and I’m not even religious. Great content and I can tell you’re a working man. Thank you
Thanks for the kind words 😀.
Great video and you make a tremendous impact by helping other people learn about welding. I greatly value your knowledge and all your contributions made through your channel. Many thanks Greg!!!
Thanks for taking the time to watch videos to better your skills 😃
I'm grateful that my tractor deck broke 4 months ago. I probably would of never bought a welder or even find your Channel or Brutus Metal Art I love doing small projects and creating art for loved ones i haven't charged anyone for the work but i have been paid for everything in one way or another i have people collecting metal for me buying wire and rods was given a small welding rig anvil / vise and a bench grinder 😊 I feel so blessed and appreciate you Greg
I am glad to be able to help you 😀. It’s amazing what you can do with a simple welder and a bit of practice. Metal working opened more doors for me than any other skill I have ever learned. Not to mention the art end of it is completely worth being able to weld. Keep up making art, the world needs more metal art 😀
You have the tiny tool box of knowledge. That's unique I haven't seen that any other place. Have a good day.
Just found your channel a few days ago, totally hooked and tremendously grateful for the effort and information you put into your videos. By far the most informative and thorough welding videos I've seen anywhere on the 'tube.
Thanks for the kind words 😀. I enjoy making the videos and doing it to help out people 😀
thanks for the time/effort invested. Your videos are really helpful for DIY welders like me!
No problem, I am glad the videos are helpful. I want to see people having the knowledge/skill to build stuff 😃
Absolutely enjoy your informative videos
Thanks, I am glad you do 😀
This is the first time I've seen what is involved in running a YT channel. It has a lot of interesting information for someone who wants to get into it for fun and profit. Thanks for being upfront about it.
Your videos have inspired me to create a welding "training course" for myself where I have tried to follow along with all the different processes you have shown over the last few months. Since January 29 to be exact.
I have made lots of fillet welds filled with overlapping beads in all four positions (flat, horiz., vert. up, overhead) with mig, flux core, 6013, 7018, 6010, and 6011 rods. So far I've filled over 30 of these. I try to practice for an hour or two daily and write in a notebook the things that I've learned. So, yes you have helped a lot of people become better and more confident welders Keep up the good work. 👍
Awesome to hear that and congrats on putting yourself through a challenge. If you’re not failing at a few things you’re not being challenged enough. Learning from those mistakes is how you become better 😀.
Thank you for all of the content you provide as well as the positive insight that you share. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed your channel since the first time that I stumbled across it. Congratulations on the growth an I always look forward to the next video 💯
Best of luck, Greg. You’re a good guy. It seems like you’re paying it forward without saying you’re paying it forward. 😊
As soon as I read the title of the channel a long time ago, I knew it was going to be gold. Just honest no frills wisdom about a topic I enjoy and appreciate. Thanks for sharing your time with all of us.
Thanks for the kind words. I have been working hard at editing some new content dealing with repairs that I think everyone will love. Including a video with a ton of stupid mistakes I have made 😅.
Good morning Greg. Your channel is and will continue to be a success because of your ability to educate people and make it understandable, educational, and fun to learn. I know that I said educate twice but I'm old so... Anyway, you are doing a great many people a huge favor by what you do and how you do it. God bless and have a wonderful day. 👍👍🙂
Thanks for the kind words 😀
Time for a face reveal! Y'all like this comment if you agree. Im betting our boy has one hell of a mustache.
Haha I do have a beard and a mustache 😅. I have been in a few articles and got offered to go on the news for some projects I was doing (I declined). People already recognize me in public for unrelated to UA-cam, I don’t want to be more noticeable 😅. I never said a peep to any co worker about the UA-cam channel and yet they all stumble on my videos at some point and let me know they found me 😅.
I think you’ve made a video showing your self at least once didn’t ya Greg? I think you did one welding on the back of a truck maybe those rails on the back? I think you filmed yourself in that video maybe not a face closeup but we seen you before
Another thought, if you want, you can sign up for the Amazon associate program. Easy to put in some links to some equipment, tools, clothes or whatever used in a video.
First, I noticed the bag of Dot's Pretzels in the background of a couple of your segments. Love those things, and I shop at Menards a lot as well. 🙂
Operating a UA-cam channel is not for the faint of heart, that's for sure. I created one and made it private, only putting up a few vids on it. I could see that it would be a big hassle to keep it going, so gave up on it. I sold my business and retired early last year, so I do have some time, but being a content creator isn't my cup of tea. Kudos to you for being willing to share what you know. I think that's your charm as well, to freely give what you know to your viewers.
So keep up the good work, and I hope the channel continues to do well. My real name is Doug by the way. Just a hobby welder that has learned more about fusing metal from YT, and mostly on your channel. Oh, and my handle means I have a railroad background, so have lots of steel from that to practice with. Heavy stuff too!
Menards is awesome 😀. Content creating is definitely a challenge. I wanted to start the channel 10 years before I did, when I started a project of restoring an old school (which I have since sold). The problem was, so-much needed to be fixed my choice was to either spend the time fixing it or the time filming and editing. I chose fixing it and was immensely successful in that, but the amount of helpful content that never saw the light of day is kind of sad. I don’t know why I am so motivated to do stuff, but sharing that with people makes it not a waste.
Glad to hear you have learned a lot about welding from the channels content 😃. Congrats on your retirement too. You can have the time to polish the skills now 😀. It’s good you have some heavy steel too, that’s the best kind to practice on, it’s a lot harder to melt through lol.
I really enjoy your videos
Glad to hear that. It’s fun making them 😀.
Greg Your a great teacher I have learned so much from you. I would not change channels over a few advertisements .You deserve to make as much as UA-cam is willing to pay. Keep up the good work and thank you.
Thanks for the kind words and I am glad you learned a lot. I want to see people building skills and believing in themselves which is why I do it. 😀
Thanks for the behind the scenes look into you and your channel. Your wittiness and view of just the project and hands makes the channel unique. I guess finding an article with your picture helps me picture the person behind the voice. Keep up the hard work, I appreciate it. I've been able to build a few things and do some repairs since finding your channel. Thanks for all your instruction and inspiration.
Thanks for the kind words 😀. Picture me as a pretty normal 6’6” tall guy with a beard and a really odd sense of humor. 😅
Just wanted to leave a comment saying thank you for all the information with your videos, they have been amazing supplementary tools to my ongoing welding education and have been and still are highly appreciated.
Thanks for the kind words 😀. I do the tests/share what I know because I want to see people being able to tackle projects and succeed. Someone has to take over building stuff when I am gone 😀
Let me know if you want to chat about starting and maintaining a channel, I've got 2 channels. The time is a big factor. It's a fun hobby though. I spend a few hours a week on video editing, but some take an entire Sunday. I use the free davinci resolve. Most videos are shot on a GoPro 10,but I picked up a Sony zv1 for better video.
Audio is half the video! A wireless mic is essential. I'm using a comical boomX-D2.
The biggest hurdle, you just gotta hit record... Get over the cringe of your own voice, and just upload everything with the expectation that nobody will watch. But I'm up over 600 subscribers 🎉
And I'll just thank you again for helping teach me to learn to weld. Welding has been a part of a couple of my videos already. Looking forward to doing more projects in the future. None of it would be possible without you.
Glad to hear things are going well for you 👍👍So much of what you said definitely rings true with me too. Like you said, hit record and work with what you got 😀. The most important thing is to produce content and get it out there. If you don’t start you can’t have anything lol. With time people will come. Keep it up 😀
Thanks for this detail, I appreciate the behind the curtain view. I’ve learned a lot from your content, mostly how much I have to learn yet, and would love to see woodworking content some day. Thank you
I did higher end finish carpentry (including custom molding from rough sawn to completed) for 15+ years, along with all other aspects of historic home restoration. I definitely will dabble in some woodworking the future 😀.
Your elaboration is very well worth watching. Thank you.
No problem and I am glad you like the content.
Hi again Greg! It’s your friendly miner gal again! After seeing this video I have to give you HUGEEEE kudos that you’re one hell of a guy! I figured this by watching your vids and this one really sealed that deal for me!
I had intentions for a while now of starting my own mining channel of me working my mine and processing the ore as well as doing other mine related stuff. The only difference that would probably make it different than most other mine operator channel is that I’ve never seen another woman doing this kind of work (with the exception of Lila which is on Jeff Williams channel) so with that said I’m thinking that just may make my channel… but now that you went into just what it takes to run a decent channel I have to give that much more inthought.
First, I never realized you had to pay taxes on the little amount you earn on UA-cam. Also I never even realized UA-cam paid people that ran channels as I was gonna hope for a donation thing with that but since I’d already get revenue from my channel then I guess I wouldn’t really have to count on donation revenue all though I’ve seen that on several mine operation related channels I’m subscribed to. I’m assuming now that that would just be an offset income from what you get from UA-cam. Anyways that’s a couple of my concerns on considering starting my own channel right at this point.
There was a shitload of stuff you covered just in this one video that I had absolutely no idea about and now I do. As always your videos are ALWAYS what I feel are top of the line and this one was just sensational and got me thinking on just how to plan all this out once I decide to go for my own channel!
Dawna
If you’re thinking about doing it I definitely would. Using even a modern higher end phone and a decent wireless mic (like a dji, rode, or hollyland) will be a minimal investment with good results. What you described sounds like something I would watch and I think a lot of other people would as well. Mining is an interesting topic, I have always been into it. All sorts of skills are required to do it. I actually taught a guy how to weld aluminum and stainless a while back and he was making small scale gold sluice boxes and diving suit heaters that used pump/generator exhaust heat to warm water that would circulate in the suit. Mining is a pretty broad topic thus a wide range of people would be interested in it.
As far as taxes, unfortunately you will have to pay taxes. Now there are a lot of things that you can do to minimize that. Expenses can be deducted. If you have a primary job (besides mining) and form a LLC you have the ability to maximize deductions. Things you currently don’t deduct you will be able to. UA-cam pays auto deposit and gives a 1099 misc, so that income is reported. Patreon and all other payment services also will report amounts exceeding 600$ and thus they must be claimed as well. If you keep track of your expenses it wouldn’t be hard to lower you tax liabilities. Last year I didn’t pay much in taxes on the UA-cam income this year I will because it will be over 10k. I have thoughts of running a non profit, unfortunately that requires multiple people and would be rather difficult to achieve as just one person.
Thanks for sharing all of this. Always excellent and useful.
No problem 😀
Great video, and your conclusion was spot-on about the negative commenters. I wonder how much money is being left on the table by Google/UA-cam's poor selection of ads that I have no interest in and hit Skip as soon as the option is available. Google likely knows me better than anyone and should be able to better target ads at me that I might have some interest in watching. Instead I get so many ads for online anime games which are right up the alley of most ~60 yr old guys who watch welding channels (ha!), or the same solar panel ad a thousand times over, etc. It would seem Google doesn't know me at all!
I definitely get some odd ads. Occasionally I get welding ads but many of them are completely unrelated to anything I would commonly buy. UA-cam use to let you specify skippable, now they choose everything with that. Which is weird because I don’t see adds on my own content ever so I have no real idea what they are doing. The only thing I can specify is no mid video ads, which I click no on. I think they changed everything because if everyone is forced to do the same thing they will make more money due to more people seeing ads. On one hand it did help me increase revenue because of more ads watched, and it made everyone the same so it levels the playing field. On the other hand it left me with no control over ads or any idea of what’s going on with them lol.
You're living life right, it's great when you can turn your hobby into a side business to help offset the costs and still enjoy it. I do the same with electronics, but still haven't ventured to youtube with it (I need to). I know you mention not wanting to push / sell products, but setting up an Amazon Affiliate account can help offset the costs a little more. A boiler plate of affiliate links you use in the description seems to be a pretty common thing people do without being click-baitish or overselling. Just open and honest, like your channel. Keep it up and thanks for the content!
Thanks for the kind words and advice 😀. I might be jumping into taking it more serious from a business perspective soon. Despite having 30-40% down on a commercial building I have found banks don’t want to loan me money for a commercial building because I don’t “run a business” lol. I might be forced to run a business legitimately soon just for the sake of being able to purchase a property suitable for my needs lol.
Your opinions and very valid tests are what make your welding channel in a big step ahead of the others. If your not learning your not moving forward
Thanks for the kind words 😀. I have a ton of opinions but what are they worth if there isn’t something to back it up lol. Welding is far from a perfect science and any info that can be helpful to make better decisions is well worth it.
Greg thanks for putting it out there
Your channel has helped me be a better welder
Fabrication videos would also be of interest to me
Looking forward to your next video!
Glad to hear the videos helped. Are there specific fabrication videos you would like to see?
Dude you provide great content. I would happily submit to a mid video advertisement if it would help you out in any way. The content is worth it for me.
Thanks for the kind words. For the time being I will stick to not having ads during the content so people can get the most amount of info in the least amount of time lol 😀
Congrats on your success. Your channel help me learn stick welding and last fall I made a really legit smoker that works great. Keep it up!
That’s awesome to hear. That’s what makes welding one of the best hobbies. You can make stuff that works for your needs, and things that nobody else has. It’s one of the few “trades” that creativity can be a huge part of.
That’s awesome to hear. That’s what makes welding one of the best hobbies. You can make stuff that works for your needs, and things that nobody else has. It’s one of the few “trades” that creativity can be a huge part of.
Keep up the good work! Your efforts are appreciated 👍🏻
I will and you’re welcome 😀
Thanks for the words of encouragement.
Thank you very much for sharing.
Hi Greg,
Thanks for sharing your experience behind the channel. I think there are very few who actually "make a fortune" doing youtube, if any. Google makes the most consistent part of the profit by taking their 32%.
There are a lot of folks running channels that are using "clickbait" titles and overblown content, but thankfully your channel isn't one of them.
I have greatly appreciated the depth into the topics, the experimentation, and the knowledge you share, which is why I subscribed about a year ago, and have recommended your channel to a number of like-minded "handy" folks (I count myself as one of these).
Cheers from Portland, OR,
Philip
Thanks for the kind comment, the long term watching, and sharing of the videos 😀. Click bait can bring views but it doesn’t likely help people. I am most concerned with sharing knowledge and seeing people improve their skills 😀.
thanks Greg for your time and efforts. It is appreciated.
You’re welcome 😀
Great work as always, really enjoy watching your videos and learning from you.
Thanks for watching them and putting in effort to improve your skills 😀
Thanks for this video. Very inspirational. Thanks for your other videos and the replies you sent me.
Starting to do really good welds now.
Thanks again and best of luck for the future.
Glad to hear that 😀. Once you make some decent welds and understand what it takes to achieve them everything becomes much easier. That initial learning curve is a steep bastard, but once you get it and actually build stuff it’s 100% worth it 😀
Awesome video! Great insight and thank you for sharing!
No problem 😀. A lot goes on behind the scenes but it’s 100% worth it 😀
Thanks for doing everything you do. It’s helping me finish my apprenticeship the way you explain stuff just makes sense. Cheers
Glad to hear your finishing your apprenticeship and the videos help 😀
Hell yeah Greg! You're a good man. You've inspired me to start a channel.
Glad to hear 😀. It’s pretty stressful for a while at the start but it’s definitely worth trying. Knowing you inspired someone or helped them with something is a great feeling. Or even entertained them 😀
Speaking of time...I rarely comment...but your reasons for doing what you do are so commendable. Cheers from a Canadian welder.
Thanks. My payoff will be knowing people are bettering their skills and building cool stuff 😀
Thanks for this Greg.
You’re welcome
Thank you for this video. and all the others that you do. I was curious what your background is. I like that you don't just expound on your opinions, but back everything up with a test. And sometimes your tests provide results that you were not expecting and you say so. I don't mind ads so would encourage you to do some so you could get a little compensation for all of the useful information you provide to your viewers. Thanks again!
I definitely get surprised with some of the results. I do so much reading and mental thought process before going into a test that when things don’t work right there has to be something I overlooked lol. What makes it super challenging is welding is far from a perfectly consistent process. The skill it takes to sit down and do perfect welds on a test plate with a random welding process (with no prep weld or anything) can prove to be very difficult lol.
Great content and video! I can appreciate your work and teaching ethics. Much of your "rambling" hits home with how I operate my self-employed dog training business. Thanks for the effort and looking forward to seeing what's on your horizon.
Hmm, so what's the market like for training self-employed dogs ? What subjects are the most popular ?
😀
Thanks for the kind words and good luck with the dog training business 😀. I think welding is far easier than training dogs, you must have your work cut out for you lol.
Thank you because you have answered a couple of my questions
No problem 😀, glad I could help out.
How do you know I’m not drunk? Why else would I watch.
Thanks for the electrifying content.
No problem 😀
We certainly appreciate the work and time you put into this. But, most of my career was in commercial photography. I co ran a commercial film lab for 28 years. I’m saying this because we were very early supporters in digital photography and post work. In 1988 we bought the first pre Photoshop digital scanning and editing. Then we went into video editing when Apple’s QuickTime came of age. The point is that I have a lot of experience in commercial video editing. So, when I say that you have to figure on why you’re spending that much time on editing, it’s because it simply shouldn’t ever take five hours to edit a 20-30 minute video, even if there are a fair number of takes. Five hours seems excessive. If you can save two hours on that and cut the two hours down as well, that’s a lot of time saved.
I would second this. It's worth a reevaluation of your workflow and maybe hardware/software. Not at all familiar with Rush, but Premiere Pro can be lightning fast for editing once you get the hang of it. And I would consider a big part of that using keyboard shortcuts. Like 95%. Can't imagine anyone ever getting to speed if their mouse is a big part of things. Maybe take two videos to commit those shortcuts to brain/muscle memory but it's not that big a lift. Beyond that and an underpowered PC (other than rendering, shouldn't be too many operations that aren't nearly instantaneous or a few seconds) I figure it's just about breaking down and optimizing your workflow so that what you do in step A makes things easier and quicker in step B. Organize/tag your footage before you start editing, etc. Only other thing; it's been several years since I was doing this kind of thing regularly if I was going to start it up again I'd buy a usb editing keyboard/interface with a jog wheel or just a standalone wheel.
Thank you for all your content, your teaching is much appreciated. I’m still trying to crack the 1000 subscriber mark with my video channel with local musicians playing Classic Rock. Hey, have you ever thought about showing us more than your arms and hands in your videos? I cant help but think of the Svengoolie Show on Tv with Sven’s visitor at his door that would knock and talk with his hand, lol.
Anyways, best wishes with your channel Greg, much appreciated.
😎👍
I could show more of my arms. The issue is due to time constraints and difficulty making sure things are in focus (aka small screen makes it hard to see) I often shoot closer up so I know it’s in focus. I really need a camera person 😅
@@makingmistakeswithgreg Thanks for the reply. Yes, having another person shooting with the camera is a very good idea. Too bad we don’t live closer to one another. 😁👍
Best wishes my friend
That was an excellent video. I recently started a channel just to fart around with the technology and see if I could put anything interesting togetgher. It's a work in progress lol. I'm shoping for a wireless mic now. Thanks for taking the time.
Wireless mic wise I had good luck with the hollyland lark series. Word of advice, 100% get the case with microphone setup. It makes it so much harder to lose them, and it is much more convenient for charging than hooking a cable up to the receiver and mic. You will thank me 100 times over for spending the money lol.
I can't wait for a 'UA-cam Certified Welder' sticker! Great video, thanks for sharing the details. I think we are living parallel lives.
They will be out pretty soon, I got a good laugh out of them when I got them in the mail 😅. They turned out better than I expected.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg Yeah I want a couple of them stickers too.
I really enjoy your videos. I've been welding since I was 12 cause I couldn't get anyone else to build go-kart frames for free! However, not just enjoying your content, I have learned a few things as well, mainly checking my work. TEST YOUR WELDS! I haven't paid anyone on patreon yet but I do buy their merchandise...coffee cups, tee-shirts, stickers! I would love a mug with your logo...will weld for tacos! Hahaha, also a few stickers...we would buy stuff from you so don't hold back too long! Have a great week! Biff.
I am glad you like the videos 😀. I will be doing a big sticker giveaway shortly (stay tuned for the video) and I will find a way to setup a store soon for some merch. I have been so backlogged on editing once I am caught up I will be able to do some extra stuff 😀.
Even if you choose not to monetize links as an Amazon affiliate, it would be nice to have links to items you talk about so people interested can more easily find them. (Such as your wireless mic)
I definitely will tag a link to stuff like that.
You are just the kind of guy I would want to have a beer with and shoot the shit on a friday evening after a long hard work week. Keep being you! BTW I learned alot from your channel too.
Glad to hear you’re learning 😀. I am editing a bunch of content right now to share some actual repairs, which I think will be extremely useful. I also have a video with stupid mistakes I have made that will be worth a few laughs 😅
I am a hobby welding who used to do farm machinery repair before I went off to college
to get an engineering degree.
When preparing your tax return, you can subtract all of your expenses from your income
meaning you might have zero profit, meaning you pay zero taxes. You can file Form 1040
Schedule C.
Thanks for the info and that’s basically what I ended up doing. I am in the process of forming a LLC, and I am going to work with a tax accountant due to a multitude of things I need to handle.
I think affiliation with other YT channels is a speedy way to introduce grow, giving a very powerful synergy. The down side is that you run an education and somehow boobs and entertainment are rewarded higher. I like your style , Man to Man/woman talk and down to earth . Thank you for what you are doing.
Thanks for the kind words and ideas. I will likely do a joint project with a few other channels at some point. Before I started this channel I actually was in talks with weld.com to be a content creator for their channel. I decided not to do it because I simply didn’t have the time or the knowledge on video editing I felt. I also was unable to meet a deadline with the AWS (American welding society) to display some artwork in their school tour trailer. Next time I should be able to do it 😀. I definately want to get more involved with the “bigger picture”.
Making mistakes with Greg.. I started doing videos on April 19th 2020 and I don't even make half of what you do. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or what. For some reason people just aren't watching my videos like I hoped they would. Now some of my videos do good on views but most of them, not so much. I just don't understand it. I'm almost to the point of giving up but I have so much time and money invested in making videos I wouldn't want to waste that. I don't know what to do.
Couple thoughts: First off, don’t give up. It can be hard to put in effort when there isn’t much return. Not just financially but from response from people. I have joked before, some of my best videos will never get much watch time simply because they existed when my channel was completely unknown. Part of UA-cam seems that not all content will get put infront of people, and if people don’t see it due to the algorithm you won’t get many views.
My most watched videos are what I would deem the most relevant to the biggest audience. The videos on flux core welding are the most watched on my channel, yet they account for a small part of the videos. I think that’s because of how relevant flux core is to so many people. To relate that to your channel, I think you will find your highest views and most liked content will be videos relatable by the most people. Hot topics like harbor freight tools are going to be view drivers due to how relatable those tools are to everyone.
I think you need to have a couple videos of projects with the tools you reviewed. You seem to have a good personality, invoking that with what you’re reviewing will go a long way. You have a lot of good useful tools you did videos on. The problem I have with finding tool videos via a search on UA-cam is often times if you search for a specific tool the first videos that come up are people solving a issue with it and not a review on the exact tool. So an example would be something like “Amazon porta power”, the videos with the most views are all videos on using it to fix something. When people see how helpful certain tools are and what they can do they are curious and click on the video.
Also, predominately tool review channels are a very cut throat and slow growing group. Very few people get most of the views, and it can make it stupidly hard to get much of the pie. Combine your personality with a hands on project with something like that icon torque wrench you just reviewed, and you will be on the right track.
Edit: another thing to think of is the long term relevancy of the video. Ask yourself if the video content will be relevant in a year or two. This matters because someone might search for it in a year and find your video. A icon torque wrench will be relevant for a long time, building an engine could be relevant for decades. Sprinkling in a video every other week that covers something that would be relevant for a long time will also help. Do a video on the biggest mistakes you made as a ASE tech, talk about money wasted on tools you didn’t like, or complete dud tools you own. Those will all be super relevant for the long term.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg Thank you for all of your advice and tips Greg. I really appreciate that.
25k? Awesome dude.
What a comprehensive overview! But I missed one thing: How did your first videos "get found"? How did you get your reach? Was it regularly uploading stuff? Was it "right topic at the right time" ?!
Great questions. So I put out a bunch of videos and people really slowly trickled in at first. It was heart breaking watching my subscriber count often gain one or two, and lose 3 to finish a day in the negative. I tend to be a “people pleaser” so loosing any subscriber made me feel like a bit of a failure. Slowly over time the subscriber count increased and the comments increased as well. A combination of 3+ videos a week for almost a year, replying to comments, and tackling some popular topics really helped get people involved.
One of the things I told myself is that I had to make sure to keep busy with projects, not do click bait, try to improve as much as possible on the editing end, and focus on really trying to help people out. The biggest driver to watch hours I think is the topics I covered that are most relevant to the biggest audience, which is flux core welding. Millions of people have them and don’t know how to dial them in, so starting my channel with those videos has proven to be the right decision. To date they still get thousands of views a day and likely is how many people found the channel. I have a feeling if I did a video on auto body repair that would also be a big hit because of how relevant such a video would be for millions of people.
I view my success based on helping people out and how others improve. Based on what I know I have been successful in that regard which is awesome 😀
@@makingmistakeswithgreg Awesome answers, thank you! It's what many new UA-camrs say: people seem to forget about you when not uploading videos on a regular basis. Btw: I found your channel searching for - you guessed it - flux core welding. I bought one because I don't need to weld stuff super often and don't want to buy bottled gas (and don't have to space for it). Which can also do stainless flux core wire which is awesome!
Material is around 8 to 10€/kg for steel and 30 for stainless. But I don't care because a spool will likely last me some time :)
So many things to say and appreciate the honesty and big thank you for the efforts you have and do put in for “us” essentially..
But Certified UA-cam Welder… I need these for my shop to give to the costumers who like to tell me all the facts they “know” 🤔 too eventually find out they seen it on UA-cam hahahah!!
Click bait words or US/Canadian terminology, not same Down Under Australia 🇦🇺 Silly duffers.
I will be doing a giveaway with the stickers, stay tuned. I want everyone to have a laugh over the sticker 😅. It fooled a guy at my work who thought I was a ASE certified welder (doesn’t exist lol). He didn’t look close enough to see what it said lol.
Yoooooo Greg I see you got that fantastic milawaukee die grinder there we all love and shit cuts off every two seconds 😂 get the ryobi one bro a million times better and it’s cheap. I kno your not a ryobi fan. But I did find something cool bro for the m12 tools. I ordered the adapter from Amazon or eBay maybe that converts the m12 tools to the m18 batteries which are actuallly worth a shit, dude works amazing and fixes a bunch of my issues with m12 tools being too weak and dead all the time. They were cheap I think I got like 2-3 of the slip on adapters for like 36 bucks maybe and I use the hell out of em
Great thought, I will have to try that. That Milwaukee die grinder has been pretty broken lately lol. It won’t hold a steady speed due to the trigger switch being bad I guess. I actually bought the 18v Milwaukee die grinder and I find that doesn’t work as good as I expected. It has more power, but the rpm seems off and it doesn’t have the control I want (either full on or nothing). I need to look at other options for sure lol.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg telling ya brother, milawaukee leaves a lot to be desired on their die grinders. Now their battery chainsaws are wicked bro, I got the top handle 14” and the new hatchet 🪓 8” m18 and bro no lie those things are unreal wicked. Smokes gas saws and I use em all the time on tree cleanups. They make a ton of killer tools so it’s not I’m against milawaukee at all, I just like the ryobi 18volt die grinder and it’s not let me down even once
Ya know Greg? I've been keeping an eye out for your tat and an ear open at the harbor freight for your voice. Looking mainly to ask you about everything you covered in this video. That and you try to convince you to test drive my ginormous transformer welder. And maybe buy you a ginger beer. Thanks for the explanation and the inside info on what is what. Some day om actually going to makes a video after I record the content instead of breaking my phone and losing the footage. You missed the other revenue stream though... Patreon! A lot of people have patrons donating 5 bucks or whatever s month. That has the add up quick!!! You gotta get you some of that! (I Hope this doesn't get demonized for that tag line infringement...)
In the future I definitely will look at options for funding as I take on bigger projects. The hardest part as of recently is trying to find a shop suitable for my needs. I have been searching for over a year and can’t find anything. I have located one possible building, (it’s a disaster) but it’s almost a hour and a half away from my work. They also want 100k over what I believe it’s worth. I am awaiting on an insurance quote to determine if it’s even feasible to get insurance on it. If the insurance is reasonable, I may put an offer in on it. Having a legit shop space would go a lot way towards being able to make videos 😀
@@makingmistakeswithgreg I hear ya. I've been looking for a space for a while. So I feel your pain. I recently inherited my family home from when I was a kid so I gotta drag the machine shop I built in my basement over there for in the garage... Hopefully I won't need a new space anytime soon! It does seem like patreon account would be a one time output of time from you for a continued input of funds. I know people do extra things to entice patrons but I don't think that's a requirement. (And I don't think all do.) It'd probably be better than adding a buy me a ginger beer button but not as funny.
Here's some ideas for QFTB: does metal have water in it that needs to be burned off prior to welding? Can you make an acceptable weld downhill on a frame? Cut frame perpendicular or diagonal to weld?
Great ideas. I screen capped it and will touch on those things soon. I actually just did a frame patch repair on a e450 van so it would be some good content that goes with what you’re asking about 👍.
Question. Do you control the ad length on your videos? When I click and get hit with a 30+ second ad, I click off and move to something else. Thoughts?
So this is the unfortunate truth. Anyone who monetizes any video gives 100% control to UA-cam. All I can do is choose yes or no to monetize, and if I will allow mid video ads. I disable mid video ads. UA-cam decides how long of a ad, if it’s skipable, and if they are going to put it at the beginning or absolute end. I used to be able to make the ads skippable, choose start, middle, and/or video end, etc. All of that control no longer exists. To make matters worse I have no idea what ads they display (they are personalized for each person) and I don’t ever see ads on my own videos.
I have done some experiments to see if they recommend a video more if it’s monetized and the difference is significant. UA-cam changed the policies Inorder to likely make more money since anyone who can be monetized has no control over the ads anymore. If I could get the same watch hours and help the same amount of
People I would disable ads in a second. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to work that way so I only disable what I can.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg Appreciate the response and detailed explanation. Your channel is excellent. Cheers.
Agreed informational vids are beneficial to help others learn. the comedy are ok but those make more money for the creator than these.
Wishing you great success. Consider Patreon.
I will likely setup one as soon as I get some stuff I have been working on for a while done. I have added an extra person to help me handle a bunch of stuff, so once I get the big backlog of material handled I will be able to handle new stuff such as managing a patreon 😀
My welding "side hustle" is edging close to full time employment
Glad to hear that 😀. The world needs more skilled welding providers. There are so few people that can competently weld repair stuff it’s getting to the point I don’t think there is anyone left out there in my area. That was a motivating factor to learn welding for me, I couldn’t find anyone to weld.
Where do you buy your steel? I buy my steel from a small, cut to length supplier near me. Their prices are very reasonable. They have a drop shop, where they sell short lengths. Many cities in the Midwest have suppliers like that. You may try searching for a cut to length supplier in your area and see if there are cheap options.
I am able to get discounts through my new employment which is good. The main limitation is my ability to get it due to my work hours. Often times I can’t make it to a supplier for weeks due to their hours which limits me to buying from more expensive options when I need something. The main place I bought from was bought out by alro steel and the prices doubled over night 😢.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg I've been getting a lot of my practice welding sheet steel from a local recycle place. It's cheaper than the steel supply, but it has gone up some, like everything else.
I want the Certified UA-cam 1.............
Yeah, me too! haha
Does it boost the channel any if I watch the same video more than once?
From what I've been told not really. Like, comment and share the channel. That stuff make a big difference.
Like strtvnt said, I don’t believe it does. It’s hard to say for sure because they aren’t upfront on how their “matrix” works.
I pay for commercial free so I wonder how much you get from that. Maybe the other subscribers could say if they pay or don’t?
That I am not sure of. I have heard that they contribute a small amount towards the channels. It never bothered me if people use ad blockers or similar either, as long as they use the video to boost their skills lol. What’s weird is I never see ads on my own videos so I never have any way to verify if UA-cam only puts ads at the start like they should.
You should build you a little shop for your channel
I definitely will get to that at some point 😀
Hey! I’m pretty! lol.
Compared to me I am sure you’re absolutely right lol.
Heat kill's me......... Hate it.........
I`ve just started to let the Ads run until the end. Never did that before...
You can run a channel, when you are old, but you can`t do heavy work, when you are old.
So you are investing into your future.
What about this "Buy me a coffee or beer" thing? Is there a way, that we can send you some money
that you can keep without paying taxes on it?
I would be more than happy to send you a couple of dollars each month, when i can afford it.
It would cost me a fortune of money and time to test out everything myself.
A one car garage should be more than enough to make a quality video of a weld bead.
Jodie Collier from welding tips and tricks migt be the best guy today to film the weld puddle.
What about building a youtube studio on a trailer?
I could build a little welding/filming studio into a old campig trailer.
Just remove the furniture, take care about fire, ventilation and you have a mobile filming studio.
No matter, how big or small your shop is, you´re always filming on this round plate of steel.
You can fit that on a trailer very easy. Talking about making/keeping money.
Americans always talk about mortgage/creditcart dept and spending money, they don`t have.
It also seems, they need Chevy/Ford and Dodge trucks with absolut nothing on the bed.
Despite that, you can`t reach the bed with a forklift from the side or the back.
Every serious working man has to make a flatbed out of it, so he can use it, which cost
extra time and money.
I might be wrong, but i don`t get that system.
I don`want to be rude. Just throwing in my two cents.
Thanks for the thoughts and the offer to help. I will share a bit of backstory now (and I will definitely consider your thoughts, especially with the opening things up for donations). The truth is I really want to inspire people to pickup tools and make a better future for themselves and their community. Part of doing that is both educating people and inspiring them to put the effort in to better themselves and their community. Part of me knows that I could be a lot more useful to the world as a teacher and as a conduit to inspire people, but at the same time I know I only have so much time to make videos. The hard part for me is accepting money and donations to me means I need to do something as a thank you to the people that donate. Well considering I already work 46 hours a week at work, plus 30 hours on the channel, I simply don’t have enough time to do more than I do already. I also don’t want the “purity” of my content to change, I don’t take a salary from the channel. When things become a paid job I don’t like it, because I might have to do things I don’t want for the sake of making money, which can take the fun right out of something lol.
With that said I very well might take some form of donation in the next few months. I am currently trying to purchase an old run down building and have ran into unbelievable headaches. If I can find a way to do it I will likely setup something for donations so people can help fund repairs to the building under the premise of saving a part of history and the eventual opening of a school to teach people skills. My dream is to operate a school open to everyone Inorder to teach people how to do things. I realize that’s not possible without the help from people, so sooner or later I need to incorporate help from others into what I do.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg Thanks for answering.
In your case, donations are a "Thank you" from your viewers for what you did in the past. It`s not paying you up front to do something in the future.
I totaly get the point, when a hobby turns into a job, the fun is gone.
In my opinion, your viewers are grown adults, that appreciate your style of teaching. There are tons of videos about every trade out there, but most filmers don`t get, what a beginner is. I`m working my way into CNC fabrication. In most videos about something, i ask myself : "That`s great, but how do i get to that point?"
They skip so many points. that nobody is able to draw a doted line.
This is, where your talent comes into the picture. Teaching someone, how to go from point A to B and then to C and so on.
Opening a school might be nice, but in todays world you reach people online. People don`t go to a cooking school anymore. They watch a video about cooking potatoes.
I`m a 58 year old oldtimer and even i don`t drive many miles to get a course, when i can watch a video about something.
I`m watching your videos from germany and i`m sure, many of your viewers are from different parts of the world. None of us would be able to visit your schoolbuilding.
So think carefully, before you invest your money.
The world has changed to a lonely place. People don`t get together anymore. Everything happens online. Think about that.
Greetings
Mike
@@makingmistakeswithgreg Hey Greg,
i would like to ad another of my thoughts.
You are clearly a good person and somehow idealistic.
But are you a businessman? Reading your lines (and i truly appreciate your honesty) , i doubt that.
If you purchase a old building in rough conditions and depend on donations, to repair it and start a "come together and learn" place, you are riding a dead horse from the beginning.
When we were young, we came together, because we wanted it. We didn`t need buildings. A supermarket parking space, a gasoline station or a place in the forest was more than enough for us.
That culture doesn`t exist anymore.
In todays world, three people are sitting on a bench and everyone is looking into his smartphone. A person walks his dog and watches his smartphone. A mother is pushing her baby in a stroller and watching her smartphone, because it`s more important, than her baby.
Do you really think, you can change that by buying a big trashed building?
I get your point. It would be great, to bring people together and share great times. I have a over 4000 squarefeet building with more than 20.000 sqarefeet property in a industrial area. No debt. I have the time and i`ve tried that for 4 years now with no results. I wanted to share my tools and my knowledge with people, build their projects with them, just to build a community. I never wanted money.
I have nothing to show you.
Be careful. Just saying.
Mike
That’s so damn true.
Love that last few minutes. Very true and wise words !
🫶🏼
Of course daily videos are awesome, but who has that time available. I think two videos a week is good. I only watch YT. BUT I have seen a lot of people succeed with 2/week do well.
Mousetrap Monday. Green Mountain metal detecting. Scotty Kilmer. BigstackD.
Of course there are more. Watch a green mountain and listen to his schedule... It's always at his first minute or so.
Scotty does every day.Hes retired and has time. He has an interesting back story. He says 10 to 12 mins hits some algorithm perfectly.
BigstackD does one a week and those are an hour long. He never speaks and never show his face.
So start maybe with Tuesday and Friday. Try to work out two episodes you can "bank" in reserve for times you can't make or edit a video.
I watch a lot of metal scrappers and they seem to do well. Their focus is very narrow. Maybe that's Not good.
I enjoy your stuff. I'm a 70 old son of a now 98 yo father that never taught me to weld. After watching your starter tips I bought an inverter stick welder. I'm doing ok. I need to set my mind to more practice. Keep it up. You have 23k (I think). Only about 75k more to 100k. You can do it.