Anyone making money from Amazon affiliate links on YouTube?

[geogentry]

I am quite willing to bet that virtually nobody actually makes a livable income from YouTube.

 Ryan ToysReview – $22 million



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[lenny flank]

^^ Well, that's the equivalent of Stephen King making a great living as an author. He may do that, but the harsh reality is that 99.9% of authors do not.

Some actors also make millions per film. The rest work as waiters.

 

[geogentry]

Shrug. Point of note: you were willing to bet that virtually nobody could make enough to make a living.

Granted he is the one that makes the most on YouTube. He's had his channel for 3 years. His current age is seven.

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[lenny flank]

I consider one person out of millions to be "virtually nobody".

 

[poot_traveller]

If a video doesn’t get to the point in a few seconds I’m outta there.  It’s like wrestling people to watch your family videos. It’s just not that interesting. If you are very interesting, get to the point, and actually have something to say that’s different. If not I hope you have a particularly funny or weird dog or cat. I watch funny animal videos

Yes the video has to get to the point within seconds or risk losing the viewers interest BUT once the viewer is engaged then they can be "dragged along" to watch most of a 15 minute video.

It also depends on what the viewer is looking for on YouTube.  If the viewer wants to learn how to do something or wants a answer to a question, they're not going to click off the video simply because it's not interesting.

I watched a video on how to bolt wood to metal and it wasn't the slightest bit interesting but nevertheless I watched the video to the end because I wanted to know how to bolt wood to metal.

 

[poot_traveller]

I am quite willing to bet that virtually nobody actually makes a livable income from YouTube.

Probably not too many people doing van life video's are making a livable income.  I still think it's possible though if your location is S.America, Africa or Eastern Europe were everything is cheap and you're getting payed in Western dollars.  A minimum Western income goes a long way in poor countries.

 

[poot_traveller]

please stay away from the drama and BS. there is way to much of that on You Tube. if I want any of that I would watch the nightly news or those Hollywood shows.

It depends what the audience want.  Dave 2D's  channel didn't get much viewers until he created drama and started roasting other van life YouTubers, then suddenly his channel took off.

But yeah, I'm not too interest in drama either and prefer to stick to how-to video's.

 

[poot_traveller]

also if you are going to do "how to" videos you better know what you are doing and be able to  deliver it in a way that is easy for people to understand and be entertaining all the while. if you try to be funny you better be funny.  between 30-60% of the how to videos on you tube are BS and the people making them don't know jack.

I'll make sure I know what I'm doing before posting video's.  I'll start with explaining the benefits of reflectix during winter since NO ONE can explain how reflectix keeps a van warm during winter, and when they try they start talking about R-value and how reflectix isn't good insulation.  They fail to mention that R-value isn't a good indication of the effectiveness of reflectix because it doesn't measure radiation transfer by it's self.  And just because it doesn't make good insulation doesn't mean reflectix can't keep a person warm. That's like saying a winter sleeping bag doesn't make good insulation and then the audience start thinking a winter sleeping bag can't keep a person warm. Sorry I'm drifting off subject.

Anyway, I'll make sure I explain everything in a way that makes it easy to understand.

 

[poot_traveller]

you also need to give any specs in both inches/feet and metric as most of your traffic is going to come from the USA,  this goes for all the measurements,  it's no fun if you need a conversion chart or a calculator to watch a video.  this also goes for terms,  a boot is a totally different thing in different parts of the world.

if you recommend stuff that is not readily available in the viewers country they will loose interest fast.

I'll make sure I do everything the USA way.  Thank you.

 

[poot_traveller]

Its a lot of work for not a lot of money, so you might as well have fun with your videos and make them so years later you can come back and watch your great adventures on youtube.

Yeah it's a lot of work and not a lot of money.  I want to try it anyway since I should have a bit of spare time each week.

 

[poot_traveller]

The bottom line is traffic. A LOT OF TRAFFIC!! It takes time to build organically. Many people now treat it as a business and invest thousands in their own Google and facebook ads, etc. to drive traffic their sites to build quicker. Those people / companies will have the upper hand on gaining momentum. You can do it free over a long period of time or do it faster if you are willing to pay.

I'm not willing to pay, so it looks like I'm in for the long haul.

 

[Cammalu]

It also depends on what the viewer is looking for on YouTube.  If the viewer wants to learn how to do something or wants a answer to a question, they're not going to click off the video simply because it's not interesting.

I do that all the time. If explanations are taking too long or the video maker starts rambling I’m gone looking for another how to video that gets to the point. How many times I’ve been told that you have to skip to about 8 minutes to get the actual information I don’t even know.

So many totally pathetic boring videos out there. Might want to go to toastmasters and learn how to speak and hold an audience.

 

[jeanmarie]

It is hard to support yourself on YouTube. Too many people trying to do that. YouTube is not a stable source of income, as even some of the biggest creators have found out. The competition for audience and views is fierce. A detailed series of videos about your van build out will get some early attention. But there are already a bazillion videos available on almost every other topic you can think of. The people who do well in this genre tend to have a cult of personality going for them. If you can get people interested in YOU, you may be able to pull it off. A sexy girlfriend who wears a lot of bikinis helps, but you never know who is going to click with the viewers. Look at Petty and Kevin. 

YouTube seems to be continually making changes that make it hard for newbies to get a foot in the door. If you want to try it, go for it. You might have the talent, creativity, persistence and luck to make it worthwhile. But try to make it one of several sources of income, not your only one.

 

[jeanmarie]

It is hard to support yourself on YouTube. Too many people trying to do that. YouTube is not a stable source of income, as even some of the biggest creators have found out. The competition for audience and views is fierce. A detailed series of videos about your van build out will get some early attention. But there are already a bazillion videos available on almost every other topic you can think of. The people who do well in this genre tend to have a cult of personality going for them. If you can get people interested in YOU, you may be able to pull it off. A sexy girlfriend who wears a lot of bikinis helps, but you never know who is going to click with the viewers. Look at Petty and Kevin. 

YouTube seems to be continually making changes that make it hard for newbies to get a foot in the door. If you want to try it, go for it. You might have the talent, creativity, persistence and luck to make it worthwhile. But try to make it one of several sources of income, not your only one.

That should be "Letty," not "Petty." I was not making a snarky comment. I just have that annoying autocorrect feature and did not edit properly.

 

[jeanmarie]

YouTube rewards long video's with more exposure, which results in more viewers.  The longer the video the better.  So YouTubers that understand this turn their 5 minute video into a 15 minute video.

Do NOT post a long video full of filler. A lot of viewers won't even click on it, and they won't be back for a second helping if they do. People may watch a 30 minute video that is densely packed with actual information (step by step of setting up your solar, perhaps), but they won't be back if it is mostly fluff. I don't know if YouTube actually pushes long videos or not. But viewers do not have unlimited time and they will not watch them. In fact, if you can keep them under 10 minutes, you will get more actual views.

 

[jeanmarie]

Yes the video has to get to the point within seconds or risk losing the viewers interest BUT once the viewer is engaged then they can be "dragged along" to watch most of a 15 minute video.

It also depends on what the viewer is looking for on YouTube.  If the viewer wants to learn how to do something or wants a answer to a question, they're not going to click off the video simply because it's not interesting.

I watched a video on how to bolt wood to metal and it wasn't the slightest bit interesting but nevertheless I watched the video to the end because I wanted to know how to bolt wood to metal.

Poot, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of videos on every topic you can think imagine. There are also articles you can Google and read. Your videos are in competition with all those. If you want people to come back, get to the point, stick to the point, and don't waste their time.

 

[geogentry]

In fact, if you can keep them under 10 minutes, you will get more actual views.

According to what I've read, buy actual successful YouTubers, videos slightly over 10 minutes are the ones that make the money. That's because YouTube will put more ads on the longer videos.

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[Spaceman Spiff]

I say go for it.  If you enjoy doing it, keep on.  If you don't enjoy it, why keep doing it?  I just becomes a crappy, low paying job.

 

[poot_traveller]

Might want to go to toastmasters and learn how to speak and hold an audience.

I'll check out toastmasters for some tips.  Thanks

 

[poot_traveller]

Do NOT post a long video full of filler. A lot of viewers won't even click on it, and they won't be back for a second helping if they do. People may watch a 30 minute video that is densely packed with actual information (step by step of setting up your solar, perhaps), but they won't be back if it is mostly fluff. I don't know if YouTube actually pushes long videos or not. But viewers do not have unlimited time and they will not watch them. In fact, if you can keep them under 10 minutes, you will get more actual views.

I'll try to make the video's as informative as I can, and not fill the video's with nonsense just for the sake of extending the video's. Thanks for the advice.