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
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