Why you'll never be a YouTube Millionaire

I haven't taken the plunge into YouTube, for the simple reason I don't think I could manage to record and edit a consistent offering on a weekly basis, you're either geared up for that dedication or you aren't. In addition to that though I think YouTube has become an overly saturated market in the subject I'd probably cover, video gaming - and the amount of work required to put into it compared to the financial returns just don't add up, well, not these days anyhow.

Passive income through content creation when you hit that sweet spot can be very rewarding but the immense pressure to deliver consistently 'entertaining' videos is a tough thing to master if you're going to be financially dependent on it.

YouTube, like Instagram if you nail it just right can be a great form of passive income, passive in the sense you do all the groundwork first to set up the content, promote it and then leave it there to gather views and likes in the hope that the content you created was entertaining enough to be shared and discussed or liked en mass.

However, for the last few months YouTube has come under fire for what many people are calling a lack in quality control and transparency because brand ads were appearing alongside objectionable, and even terrorist-backed videos. Recently Google moved to stem the problem when it increased the filter system by which advertisers can avoid appearing on channels not in tune with their demographic or brand positioning. There are now five exclusions, including "sexually suggestive," "sensational and shocking," and "profanity and rough language," Google has also increased the number of people employed to flag actual content across its network as well as recently announcing its new steps to combat terrorism ideology and the promotion of terrorism or hate across its format.

YouTubers that have seen their revenues decline can appeal or flag if the recent filter system has had an adverse effect on either removing their videos or flagging them unnecessarily for content discrepancies. The backlash from top brands like Starbucks, Audi,HSBC,Toyota,General Motors,Verizon, PepsiCo and Tesco along with over 30 others pulling their ads from Youtube has meant the available ad revenue paid out to content creators has declined massively. YouTube could lose $750 million in revenue this year over advertisers halting business, according to analyst firm Nomura Instinet.

Ad revenue from YouTube comes from three different types of sources, CPM's from ads, Sponsored Videos an Ad Placement. CPM is the cost to an advertiser or brand for 1,000 views of an ad.  Social Blade Analytics estimates that the CPM range varies from $0.60 - $7.00. Once you factor in all the different variables such as type of ad, country, number of subscribers,audience retention and click rate - and then calculated the 45% cut that Google takes as well as the 45% cut any MCN (multi Channel Network) will take for that ad, a CPM of around $3-$4 will net that YouTuber in the region of $1000 per 1 million views on a channel with 1 million subscribers.The average profit per 1,000 views is around $1.40. Channels looking to make bank need to be worth at least $14 for YouTube to consider placing advertisements on their content. $14 isn’t throwaway money, but it’s probably not enough to convince someone to make YouTube-ing their full-time pursuit. In Feb of this year YouTube made another change to its partner policy - creators won’t be able to turn on monetization until they hit 10,000 views on their channel in 12 months and have 1000 subscribers minimum. Many content creators think this will see many of the smaller channels move away since the pressure to gain views and subs is too difficult in a saturated market. YouTube is the big gun when it comes to the most influential social media for consumers who make purchases. YouTube influences 64% of purchases made which is the higher compared to other social media channels like Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Effectively if you were able to create content that helped people make a decision to play or buy then getting the views should be relatively easy to do providing your content is well structured, entertaining, unbiased and informative.

Youtuber: Zoella bought a $1.5 Million house in Hove, Sussex with her Youtube earnings.

YouTuber 'GenerikB' who has over one million subscribers described the reduction in ad revenue similar to your boss coming up to you at work and saying" You're doing a great job kid but we're gonna cut your salary by 50% "

GenerikB goes on to say that 300 views on YouTube for him is the equivalent of a $1 sub per month on Patreon. The decline in ad revenue for Youtubers is causing content creators on YouTube to seek that lost income from other sources but have also stated that programs like Patreon are much more user friendly in content creation because of the discord integration in the format. YouTubers find it hard to dedicate time to filter through the spam and general malevolence in the comments section of their channel which can be like looking for a needle in a haystack when trying to respond to dedicated subscribers and followers directly.

However, the problem with Patreon is the the notion that viewers tend to think that larger YouTubers are already financially well off and don't need the extra dollars per month - it's almost like its looked down upon for the 'celebrity' content creators to ask for dedicated contributions from their audience every month, the flipside to that is that brands will only advertise on YouTube if your subscriber numbers have the audience reach and you have audience retention. One beautyVlogger, who despite having a healthy subscriber audience (160,000) was barely scraping by so had to work a day job at Starbucks to sustain her cost of living - she eventually had to resign her day job at Starbucks because fans has memorized her work schedule. The last thing you need as a content creator is someone pointing at you at work and asking" why are waiting tables, I thought you were a famous Vlogger?"

Too many people seem to think that all Vloggers and content creators are making huge amounts of cash when the stark reality is that if you're mid size in terms of followers and subscribers you're in a very large and competitive group of many other Vloggers and creators fighting for the same ad or sponsorship dollar.

Patreon it would appear is good for low size or mid tier sized vlogs and content creators to dial in to their audience on a more personal level to help build growth, the reduction in spam and clutter allows these smaller sites to grow at a decent rate providing content creation is regular and consistent, but understanding the viewer perception and psychology of "you've got enough followers I no longer need to pay you now" is a difficult dilemma to fully understand. This blog is my own personal rant, sure I have adsense on here to squeeze a buck or two but it's not going to pay a utility bill because I simply don't get the huge influx of traffic, I'm certainly not a celebrity and my twitter only has 500 followers (incidentally, thanks if you've got this far and are actually reading this, I appreciate you stopping by).

Time will tell if advertisers come back to YouTube, with over 30+ top flight brands all yanking ads its got to be a bitter pill to swallow for Google and shows that YouTube needs to tighten up its act in terms of quality control, I mean, come on - do extremists really watch their favorite hate preacher on YouTube expecting a 30 second ad for Johnson & Johnson baby wipes to pop up?