Yeah this is long, and if you don't want to read it that's okay. But thank you all of you who read all of it :_zetHug: EDIT: A lot of people seem to think I'm sad :_zetHAH:This is a serious topic, but I am a logically-wired person, so to me it's just a problem that needs talking about. I am still in high moods!
6 months ago (edited) | 354
Dude genuinely do what you’ve gotta do, put in raw unedited videos on patreon, do events with them and all of that. You should do events from time to time with patreon members that celebrate them supporting you. I know people like myself who can’t afford patreon right now would respect it because you still care about the people who can’t pay. Take care of yourself and make sure you’re set up. I want you to be able to continue to do what you love, your content is amazing. I support whatever decision you end up making. <3
6 months ago
| 263
Take the bloody sponsorships. It will help you supplement your income from base ad revenue and it can help grow your brand name that bigger, more lucrative sponsors, could discover your channel. Next, yes adding BONUS content is the move. Everytime I feel disappointed in going into a creator's patreon or the like, I feel scammed cause its BTS and updates/snipbits of content we get for free. Making it just extra content from a recording or livestream is a fairer deal than FOMO or pointless update videos. I hope all the best for your content creator journey. You got this Zet.
6 months ago
| 131
Genuinely as a piece of advice from someone that has tried to go about making my hobby to my job. Making everything accessible for everyone will not work in the long run. I took cosplay commissions and always send a huge amount of stuff with the finished cosplay like maintenance stuff, step by step washing instructions, sometimes entire separate outfits for the character they Cosplayed. I made good friends with this and it was fun, but it didn't bring in any money. Luckily I still live with my mom so my existence doesn't depend on how much money I make yet. But feel justified in having to have something to live off of. Patreon is for people that love your content, people that have the money and like what you do, will likely give you the extra buck that you need. I'll likely be one of those, let me give you my money mate. It's ok:)
6 months ago
| 29
I'm reading this and I support your idea! I may not be a Patreon subscriber but things will be okay for you. Don't let the negativity drown you. The solution is already there, and you are reaching for it. It's okay if you'd stall or any personal reasons. And I also want to thank you for posting videos despite your schedule and struggles. You made me laugh and actually made DBD watchable since I don't usually watch this game and gameplay on other YouTubers. Thank you so much Zet, and please be safe and well 🙏
6 months ago
| 43
I definitely agree with what you said, and I appreciate you not only working to find a solution that doesn't worsen the experience of people who can't/don't want to sign up for the Patreon, but also giving us the option to comment on your idea. While I can't spare the money for Patreon myself, I think this sounds like a win-win-win situation! You get money, Patrons get extra content, the rest of us still get what we subscribed for. And when the situation stabilizes, you could still think about switching up what the Patreon offers. A friend of mine i.e. used to post extra content on Patreon (he's a professional comic artist), but has since switched to mostly sending newly designed stickers and such to Patrons that won't be released publicly until later.
6 months ago
| 8
Said it on Twitch and so saying it here too: I really appreciate your honesty regarding making a living off YouTube, and I do think that this could be a great way to incentivize more people to sign up for your Patreon! Extra content in your videos is genuinely never a bad idea imho, and it makes total sense that it’s difficult to sustain yourself at a specific pace so I think giving a little “exclusive” would be a small but good method to draw more people to be patrons.
6 months ago
| 9
I think the patreon bonus idea is great. Feels like getting the extra little "behind the scenes" type stuff that comes on DvDs/BluRays. Little extra bonus for the people who want to throw some money your way. I also think you should absolutely just take the sponsorships. They will help immensely, and I don't think anyone will really be upset about them.
6 months ago | 9
I appreciate the honesty. Your my favorite dbd creator, better than otz and Spooky Loops. What I suggest is making raw unedited videos and post it top your patreon. As well as taking the sponsorships. YouTube is tiring but you should keep with it. I hope this helps. You rule
6 months ago | 1
I found your channel back during the stranger things chapter and I've watched the majority of your videos since. You've brightened up my life in the darkest of times so I'll say this; do what you need to do. I guarantee that most if not all of us want to see your YouTube career be successful and if that means bonus content on patreon then I doubt any of us will complain. Your videos mean the world to a lot of us, I don't care what you do to monetise them if it means that we still get content that can make even the saddest person smile. Thank you for telling us all about this, a lot of youtubers would just do it out of nowhere and not involve their fanbase. TLDR: Do it. Don't let your dreams be dreams :D
6 months ago
| 3
This seems like a great idea. The main viewers as you said aren't technically losing anything as it wasn't going to be uploaded anyway while still giving something to those who do support you on patreon. Id like the idea of like, a second channel where maybe there's like less subtitles and more uploads or something. I also realize those subtitles are a bit of a staple for you, so.
6 months ago
| 25
Just like everyone else, just do what you gotta do brother. No matter what we'll always be here.
6 months ago | 2
The bonus idea is perfect, just because I can still remember the Chucky PTB and when Noir was killer he jumpscared all of you and I would love to be able to watch it again! 😍😂 So I would def be interested in giving you my money for stuff like that
6 months ago | 1
No matter what ima support you and the channel, do what you gotta do im rooting for you.
6 months ago | 2
Do it man it'll be a special neat thing you got with the little bonuses for patrons and who knows it might even get people who were skeptical of it to join and see what it's like and personally I would join but can't rn but you got this man all your videos are so funny and tbh it's amazing your amazing so do what you feel like will help you and know we are here to support you even the ones who don't type comments but leave a like or they always watch your videos but we will all support you whether it'd be a message or just watching all your videos so you got this let nothing hold you back and push through
6 months ago | 0
We’ll keep supporting you, you do what is necessary to survive. That’s the important stuff.
6 months ago | 0
I completely agree with ur solutions. And the patreon on vids are often bits of vods channel anyways. So win win
6 months ago | 0
I can't give anything monetarily right now, but as somebody who enjoys the content having the option to be able to get more if I want it while supporting a creator will never be a bad thing in my eyes. This is how you make your money, do what you gotta do man
6 months ago
| 1
zet is such a great guy honestly. Do whatever you need to man, I'll try and support you in any way my minimum wage earning ass is able to.
6 months ago
| 0
I think is a really good idea. You need to think of yourself and your income. Even if it is more fair to just give it all for free, we viewers can't make much more than we are already doing and it is unfair to you. So giving that little extra is not only using that content and not losing it, but giving Patreon people a sense of presence too!! It's just my thoughts I really love your channel and it makes me sad knowing you make so much effort and still feel bad yourself. Do as you need and concentrate on being happy and supporting yourself 💖
6 months ago
| 0
Zet0r
Hey guys!
I'm gonna be a bit real with you, and give you a bit of an update on kind of my life, and this channel.
I hope you will read this, because I want to hear you guys' opinions.
The short and simple of it is I still don't make enough money on this to survive.
I have been thinking a lot about this, and there could be a lot of factors why, many of which could be said to just be me. For example even though I said I'd take more sponsorships, I always just got ... too anxious to take any. And despite hiring a full-time editor, video upload rate has remained the same or even a bit slower (for many reasons). It sucks to admit, but I have to face that what we've tried just isn't working. There might still be potential, but I need to try and think of other options (such as the 2nd Channel idea you might have heard of that I've been considering quite heavily lately).
I'm still fine, I might be burning through my savings, but it's going at a slow pace as even though I am not making enough to survive, I'm still making a lot to slow it down. But the truth of the matter is that I NEED to do SOMETHING, if I don't want to be running on a clock and eventually have to quit and stop doing YouTube.
But I think I just found inspiration for something that might be able to help me while also offering you value, that I want to hear your opinions about...
------------------
Currently, my Patreon offers nothing to those who support.
I have normally always been against the idea of creating exclusive content, because the logic in my head goes "But if I make that content, why can't I just post it for everyone, and then just offer Patreon optionally?" --- and that's what I've done. But even though there are actually a few people that have done that (you are crazy), the truth of the matter is that people NEED a reason to sign up. If I want to actually live, I need to do that. Despite those thoughts however, I still really didn't want to start artificially holding back content that could have been free, just to sell out.
But then recently I came across a channel that did Patreon in a way that actually felt fair to me.
Instead of creating whole new exclusive content that excludes everyone, their Patreon stuff was just *bonuses to existing content* - for example, a video where they played some game, the Patreon-exclusive associated to that was just 1 extra bonus round of that same game (IRL stuff in this case). It's something that still offers the core experience to everyone, but just offers extras to those willing to support, exactly because that content built upon the free videos directly (more or less). And on the outro of every video, you could see and directly continue to this bonus content, so it felt connected.
This got me thinking: Can I apply something similar to myself? It doesn't have to be the exact same, but just something along the lines of *bonuses* rather than *exclusives*? Something that builds upon the experience you get with the main channel videos, instead of just being separate?
And I think I might actually have an idea that could work, without impacting what you currently get for free at all.
Hear me out:
=====================================
I have a lot of content that I *CAN'T* upload.
This could be various reasons, such as for example time, but also instances where something might be funny, but would actually just make the main video WORSE e.g. by dragging it out too far (think the huge amounts of "Press Space to Continue"-screen moments I cut out so video isn't too slow). Other examples include all the PTB matches we never get to edit, because we don't have the time to subtitle them.
This is stuff you wouldn't see *anyway*, as it can neither be included in the other videos nor uploaded as standalone, without harming either those videos or the channel as a whole. But it *is* stuff that connects directly TO those videos, and builds upon them, as completely optional extras that in no way takes away from the individual experience of those videos alone.
What would you say if I offered that on Patreon?
An example of how this could look could be:
* A new Chapter video is released: Bonus content featuring all the "Press Space"/Lobby moments that were cut
* "Tormenting my Friends" is released: Bonus video could be 3rd/4th/5th PTB match we didn't get to edit (edited, but not subtitled)
* Rift Reaction: Bonus could be mine and Lew's store reaction, that I often delete because it's way too long
* Some stream edit: Bonus rounds from that stream (if they were cut for being too long)
^... All of which would be playing on the outro, so you can go directly from the main video to the bonus in a connected experience. In some cases we might not have any cut content that could be used, in which case we can always go through the backlog of old PTBs, or maybe even a new killer game against people who weren't there for the PTB (Scoby, Exo...).
Obviously only if there was no time to subtitle it (and thus couldn't be uploaded anyway). If there was time to subtitle it, we would release it for free on the main channel.
I actually think this might be a win-win scenario, with minimal impacts everyone else (at most a couple days delay on some videos, just to cut that bonus content so it can be linked; no different than if I were to take sponsorships etc.). If this has the potential to really help me stabilize, I think it might be worth it?
But what do you guys think?
I only wrote this post because I wanted to include you in the decision making and hear what you have to say.
=====================================
I want to be fully transparent with you guys, this is mostly for the money. As I said in the start of this post, I need to do SOMETHING, which is just a fact I have to face. But I think this is a solution that could be a win-win. Similarly, you might have heard me talking about the idea of a second channel; It too is also an attempt to increase my livelihood. Both that and this idea have the potential to make up the difference, and this doesn't replace the second channel idea - If there is still interest, I will still invest into trying to make that happen too.
Thank you guys for reading this long post.
I am going live on twitch right now with a solo Killer stream, so there will be plenty of time to talk about this, if you want to discuss it. Otherwise, I hope I will get many comments on this post, that I can read through and talk to you guys in.
If we did go through with this, Early Access to videos would still be a thing for Patrons too, and I might also make a cheaper tier just for that (no bonus content), in case people want that.
Take care everyone.
Thank you for reading <3
- Zet
6 months ago | [YT] | 1,642