FranLab is getting evicted

[Haenk]

One thing she mentioned that caught my ear, and also someone commented on the video about it too, is that she said she bannes all "trolls" who leave negative comments.
I'm sure she gets a lot of horrible stuff, but she did mention that she is effectively banning viewers, and that doing this might be contributing to the algorithm punishing her.
Probably not the best approach if you need the get the numbers back up.
She is getting crushed by the algorithm though for probably more than one reason. I wouldn't like to be in that position.

My understanding is: Youtube really likes "interaction" - subscribing, leaving comments (positive or negative), thumbs up or down - so almost every channel begs for a thumbs up, leaving a comment and subscribing. I guess that's the way to please Youtube - probably more effective than looking for Patreons. Plus regular content.

[Ranayna]

One thing she mentioned that caught my ear, and also someone commented on the video about it too, is that she said she bannes all "trolls" who leave negative comments.
I'm sure she gets a lot of horrible stuff, but she did mention that she is effectively banning viewers, and that doing this might be contributing to the algorithm punishing her.
Probably not the best approach if you need the get the numbers back up.
She is getting crushed by the algorithm though for probably more than one reason. I wouldn't like to be in that position.

My understanding is: Youtube really likes "interaction" - subscribing, leaving comments (positive or negative), thumbs up or down - so almost every channel begs for a thumbs up, leaving a comment and subscribing. I guess that's the way to please Youtube - probably more effective than looking for Patreons. Plus regular content.

Then i am an incredibly bad watcher

I have even stopped subscribing to channels, because it does seem to matter to the algorithm, as a watcher. If i watched multiple videos on the same channel, videos from that channel will appear on the main page or the sidebar, whether i subscribe or not. It starts to let down a bit if i do not watch more though, and sometimes channels that rarely post videos seem to disappear. But again, it does not seem to matter whether i'm subscribed or not. For example i'm subscribed to the Floppotron guy, but i have not seen his latest videos on the main page.

So for me as a watcher, there is little to no visible incentive to interact.

[Nominal Animal]

3) Get some extra income by getting into some decent profit margin branded merch or something else. My store for example brings in a huge chunk of my income. She has expressed that this is not easy where she is, but doesn't mean it's not an option.

And because you do teardowns and show the insides, those who buy the branded tools or merch are happy to pay the price asked.  They both know what they're getting, but also who/what the profits support.

Similarly, Fran has both the Frantone stuff, as well as lots of old hardware she has showcased she could create branded replicas for; especially if showing some of the design/creation/tuning phases.  People would pay for it, "for the brand", because that way they don't just buy a thing/tool for a task, but a thing with background, a story.  We humans love stories.

There is this family up north in Finland that have reindeer, and make this amazing canned smoked reindeer (and also deer and moose) with spices and a bit of pork fat.  They're the sort of family where kids are taught both effective computer use and media literacy, but also traditional stuff related to reindeer-keeping and old customs and all the tricks of living in the Arctic.  I've told them that if they videoed their activities, especially keeping the kids along (as they normally do anyway), how they care for the animals, teach the kids, and even how they slaughter the animals with minimal pain (laws on this are very strict here in Finland) with respect –– how everything is used and nothing is wasted ––, and how the animals are appreciated for both themselves and what they provide, they could sell the cans for >10× markup on several markets with no volume limit.  Ethically grown mostly free-range meat with a story you can follow.  It's not possible for just anyone to do this, but this family is the kind where the grandparents and grandkids play soccer or make snowmen every day, and have many different ways of supporting themselves (not just reindeers), and for whatever reason, they're very likable people with funny personal quirks.  They would be perfect for setting up this kind of brand, because they are rather unique combination.  Of course, because of this, they're interested in the idea, but don't find it actually necessary to do it.

Same goes for Fran.  The kind of brand we are talking about here is the kind with a real-world story/stories behind them, and people are quite happy to pay for those.  Not just tools, but even branded merch, "stuff".  Sure, not every single human would be interested, but enough would be for sure to make it work for a single person or family.

[Kasper]

One thing she mentioned that caught my ear, and also someone commented on the video about it too, is that she said she bannes all "trolls" who leave negative comments.
I'm sure she gets a lot of horrible stuff, but she did mention that she is effectively banning viewers, and that doing this might be contributing to the algorithm punishing her.
Probably not the best approach if you need the get the numbers back up.
She is getting crushed by the algorithm though for probably more than one reason. I wouldn't like to be in that position.

My understanding is: Youtube really likes "interaction" - subscribing, leaving comments (positive or negative), thumbs up or down - so almost every channel begs for a thumbs up, leaving a comment and subscribing. I guess that's the way to please Youtube - probably more effective than looking for Patreons. Plus regular content.

I've been seeing more and more short videos lately that seem to be purposefully wrong, annoying, confusing or just pointless.  I'm amazed how many views they get, how much the algo pushes them fwd.  My guess is they annoy people and start arguements just to increase comments which the algo aparently cares more about than likes : dislikes.

Reminds me of a strategy I've seen people talking about lately: if no one is answering your question on a forum, make a new account and post the wrong answer.  People will then give good, detailed answers and even stay up late to do so because 'someones wrong on the internet'.

[james_s]

One thing she mentioned that caught my ear, and also someone commented on the video about it too, is that she said she bannes all "trolls" who leave negative comments.

There are a few youtube channels that are by far my favorite.  I watch every video  sometimes multiple times and I recommend them to friends.

I rarely comment on youtube but for these channels. Sometimes I back them up when people make inaccurate criticism.  Other times I question or disagree with them.  It means I'm interested in what they are saying and I'm offering a tiny bit of knowledge as thanks for the huge amount they've given me.  Sometimes I'm just wondering why they have a different view, wondering if I'm missing something and hoping they'll explain.

I think the most engaged viewers are the ones that will question you.  I'm not sure how Fran differentiates between negative troll, and engaged / inquizative fans but too much sensitivity here could lose some reliable followers.

I think one should be very careful about banning people. A lot of regular viewers may post something negative now and then, they are views like any other. If you ban everyone who ever says something negative pretty soon you have no viewers left.

[james_s]

I've been seeing more and more short videos lately that seem to be purposefully wrong, annoying, confusing or just pointless.  I'm amazed how many views they get, how much the algo pushes them fwd.  My guess is they annoy people and start arguements just to increase comments which the algo aparently cares more about than likes : dislikes.

They seem to be trying to compete with TikTok, the popularity of which is baffling to me. I have yet to ever see anything from there that was worth watching and I go out of my way to avoid any of the "shorts" on youtube. Complete waste of time.

[EEVblog]

Same goes for Fran.  The kind of brand we are talking about here is the kind with a real-world story/stories behind them, and people are quite happy to pay for those.  Not just tools, but even branded merch, "stuff".  Sure, not every single human would be interested, but enough would be for sure to make it work for a single person or family.

Fran has done merch like T-shirts, I have a couple, but they are hand made by her using custom silk screen processeses and sent out to Patrons.
She now seems to realise the whole Patreon thing is almost nothing but a donation system, and it should be treated as such.
I've asked other electronic creators about Patreon and they all say the same thing, 5-10% enagement tops.

[james_s]

She now seems to realise the whole Patreon thing is almost nothing but a donation system, and it should be treated as such.
I've asked other electronic creators about Patreon and they all say the same thing, 5-10% enagement tops.

That's pretty much what I had always assumed, and exactly how I would treat it. In fact it bothers me that they don't allow random one-off donations, there are a handful of creators I'd toss a few bucks to now and then but I'm allergic to recurring bills and can't be bothered to sign up and then cancel every time I want to donate.

[SiliconWizard]

Same goes for Fran.  The kind of brand we are talking about here is the kind with a real-world story/stories behind them, and people are quite happy to pay for those.  Not just tools, but even branded merch, "stuff".  Sure, not every single human would be interested, but enough would be for sure to make it work for a single person or family.

Fran has done merch like T-shirts, I have a couple, but they are hand made by her using custom silk screen processeses and sent out to Patrons.
She now seems to realise the whole Patreon thing is almost nothing but a donation system, and it should be treated as such.
I've asked other electronic creators about Patreon and they all say the same thing, 5-10% enagement tops.

Same for her pedals, as I said a couple times already, while I obviously can't guarantee any commercial success, she should just consider modernizing her designs and have her production outsourced. And forget about through-hole parts. But apparently she wants to keeps things very artisanal and seems to hate industrialization, so it's a lost cause. Artisanal stuff is great but it can't make you any money unless you stick to very high-end and very expensive stuff with very high margins. And apparently she's not into that either.

So I dunno, good luck.

[EEVblog]

Same for her pedals, as I said a couple times already, while I obviously can't guarantee any commercial success, she should just consider modernizing her designs and have her production outsourced. And forget about through-hole parts. But apparently she wants to keeps things very artisanal and seems to hate industrialization, so it's a lost cause. Artisanal stuff is great but it can't make you any money unless you stick to very high-end and very expensive stuff with very high margins. And apparently she's not into that either.

She is actually getting into doing artworks as well, she has a video on this on Patreon as well.
The problem with pedals is that that's not her Youtube audience want. Like it or not she built an audience based on electronics and other randon stuff, not on music pedals.

[james_s]

I liked her channel for the random oddball electronic gadgets and obscure display technologies, I never really watched any of the other topics she did.

[SiliconWizard]

Same for her pedals, as I said a couple times already, while I obviously can't guarantee any commercial success, she should just consider modernizing her designs and have her production outsourced. And forget about through-hole parts. But apparently she wants to keeps things very artisanal and seems to hate industrialization, so it's a lost cause. Artisanal stuff is great but it can't make you any money unless you stick to very high-end and very expensive stuff with very high margins. And apparently she's not into that either.

She is actually getting into doing artworks as well, she has a video on this on Patreon as well.
The problem with pedals is that that's not her Youtube audience want. Like it or not she built an audience based on electronics and other randon stuff, not on music pedals.

Well, maybe, I don't know. She actually has a Frantone channel: https://www.youtube.com/@FrantoneElectronics/videos
on which she has posted recent videos. Admittedly the number of subscribers is not ultra impressive, but posting more content on there may get her more traction.

Anyway, this audience thing is precisely one of the issues. Whatever she does, she should diversify IMO, and selling pedals (or some other stuff) would be complementary. As it is, she seems to rely almost solely on video creation and Patreon for the main chunk of her income and that's not exactly diversified. That's my point.

[EEVblog]

Well, maybe, I don't know. She actually has a Frantone channel: https://www.youtube.com/@FrantoneElectronics/videos
on which she has posted recent videos. Admittedly the number of subscribers is not ultra impressive, but posting more content on there may get her more traction.

Anyway, this audience thing is precisely one of the issues. Whatever she does, she should diversify IMO, and selling pedals (or some other stuff) would be complementary. As it is, she seems to rely almost solely on video creation and Patreon for the main chunk of her income and that's not exactly diversified. That's my point.

Sure. Not saying she shouldn't do pedals, could be a nice business if done right, but it's going to be hard to leverage the main Youtube audience.
But as with all such businesses it will be a return on time investment decision.
A run of say 100 boutique pedals at say even a large $100 margin per pedal only nets you $10k. Way less after tax.
The key would be to get someone else to do the manufacturing. But mentioned in videos before how the market is absolutely fooded with (decent?) quality chinese pedals at low cost. You really have the push the hand made with love boutique angle.
The good thing is that you can get video content out of the creation and manufacturing process.
Something like a "Let's restart a manufacturing business" series of video might be quite popular?

This is one of the reasons I'm looking for ready made products for my store that are otherside a bit hard to obtain and aren't being marketed well. I talk about this a bit in a new Odysee video:
https://odysee.com/@eevblog:7/exlcusive-BM036-unboxing:e
But I'm also thinking of starting my own pick'n'place line to make small run custom projects, not because it's time or financially economical, but because it make make for some fun interesting videos about the process.

[sokoloff]

But as with all such businesses it will be a return on time investment decision.
A run of say 100 boutique pedals at say even a large $100 margin per pedal only nets you $10k. Way less after tax.

If she's in the "bleeding more than $10K/year" range of her business results currently, that $10K of gross profit would eat into those losses and no tax would be due on the (non-existent) profit. Once that flips over into a net profit, then she'd start paying taxes on the net profit.

[EEVblog]

But as with all such businesses it will be a return on time investment decision.
A run of say 100 boutique pedals at say even a large $100 margin per pedal only nets you $10k. Way less after tax.

If she's in the "bleeding more than $10K/year" range of her business results currently, that $10K of gross profit would eat into those losses and no tax would be due on the (non-existent) profit. Once that flips over into a net profit, then she'd start paying taxes on the net profit.

IIRC she said that's not how it work in the US. Patreon and Youtube take the tax up front. Maybe the rest of the business might work like that I don't know. There is also state and federal tax.

[sokoloff]

Again, they may *withhold* an estimated amount of taxes due, but that’s just a pre-payment and, if it’s an overpayment versus the actual amounts due, you get a refund.

If they withhold, it changes the timing of cash flows, but not the final net total.

[Nusa]

But as with all such businesses it will be a return on time investment decision.
A run of say 100 boutique pedals at say even a large $100 margin per pedal only nets you $10k. Way less after tax.

If she's in the "bleeding more than $10K/year" range of her business results currently, that $10K of gross profit would eat into those losses and no tax would be due on the (non-existent) profit. Once that flips over into a net profit, then she'd start paying taxes on the net profit.

IIRC she said that's not how it work in the US. Patreon and Youtube take the tax up front. Maybe the rest of the business might work like that I don't know. There is also state and federal tax.

It's actually not that complicated, just not what you're used to. There's whatever fees youtube and patreon charge, which aren't taxes at all, even if someone lumps them together when talking about them. There's federal withholding based on paperwork you've submitted (if no paperwork, then maximum rate). Ditto state withholding, depending on the state. Sales taxes, if applicable, based on the purchasers state (varies from 0% to maybe 10%). If more federal and state tax was withheld than you ended up owing, you get that back as a refund from each entity after filing your taxes for the year. So it's not lost money, its a credit against any taxes you owe. Employers do the same thing...withhold taxes with every paycheck. Same deal, and it avoids people getting to tax time and being unable to pay their taxes cause they don't know how to manage their money. In fact, unless you've been smart enough to file the right paperwork to correct the rate, MOST employed people end up with a refund (aka free loan to the government) on their US taxes.

[EEVblog]

Again, they may *withhold* an estimated amount of taxes due, but that’s just a pre-payment and, if it’s an overpayment versus the actual amounts due, you get a refund.
If they withhold, it changes the timing of cash flows, but not the final net total.

Yes, but it also depends how her business (and lifestyle) is structured.
In theory she could have an LLC company and the company rents the apartment and other locations which would make them a company expense.
But if her income is classed as personal income then she'd be payign a lot of tax.

She has specifically said that tax is a big problem and takes a relatively large chunk of her income, not from a cash flow perspective but from a yearly total out-of-pocket perspective.
Her crowd funding got taxed a fair bit, not sure if that was state or federal.

[tom66]

Hopefully Fran has an accountant.  The fee for such a professional who knows the ins-and-outs of the tax system is rapidly paid back when they find a good way to save you a few percent here or there. 

[EEVblog]

Hopefully Fran has an accountant.  The fee for such a professional who knows the ins-and-outs of the tax system is rapidly paid back when they find a good way to save you a few percent here or there.

My last accountant bill was about $8k 
But yes, they know how to minimise my tax, and probably save me way more than that.

[nctnico]

Hopefully Fran has an accountant.  The fee for such a professional who knows the ins-and-outs of the tax system is rapidly paid back when they find a good way to save you a few percent here or there.

That is only true if you are illiterate or totally uninterested in tax matters. Most of this stuff is pretty simple to deal with if you put your mind to it. Accountants love to boast about how much money they save but if they save a lot, it is likely shady and could possibly land you in trouble later on.

[PlainName]

That is only true if you are illiterate or totally uninterested in tax matters. Most of this stuff is pretty simple to deal with if you put your mind to it.

Ten years ago there were 6,102 pages of primary tax legislation and 639 numerical thresholds in that legislation (the numbers will have increased since). I wouldn't think that would be necessary if it is was simple. Further, HMRC themselves often get things wrong and don't have a clue what they're doing, so it's no surprise that someone who just wants to dick around with electronics is not au fait with the current legislation AND the potential for reducing the tax bill (and potential for landing an extra large bill plus fine). They don't need to be illiterate or totally uninterested to be overwhelmed by the stuff, and you are being offensive to suggest that. AND if you're a company you must have an accountant, and if you're merely working for yourself you'd be a fool not to use one just in case you're not actually as clever as you think you are with taxes.

That's the UK situation. I don't think other jurisdictions where EEVBlog members reside differ enormously.

[bson]

Seems like a catch-22.  The only way to break it is to go get a well-paying job, fix her personal finances, buy real estate (with a YT business in mind), do this a few years.  THEN, armed with savings, real estate, a good credit rating, and a career to fall back on if things aren't working out, move on to YT.

Frankly, the whole thing has that smell of "I'm going to do whatever I want and if I can't it's the world's fault."  But the reality is no one owes me or anyone else squat.

[nctnico]

That is only true if you are illiterate or totally uninterested in tax matters. Most of this stuff is pretty simple to deal with if you put your mind to it.

Ten years ago there were 6,102 pages of primary tax legislation and 639 numerical thresholds in that legislation (the numbers will have increased since). I wouldn't think that would be necessary if it is was simple. Further, HMRC themselves often get things wrong and don't have a clue what they're doing, so it's no surprise that someone who just wants to dick around with electronics is not au fait with the current legislation AND the potential for reducing the tax bill (and potential for landing an extra large bill plus fine). They don't need to be illiterate or totally uninterested to be overwhelmed by the stuff, and you are being offensive to suggest that. AND if you're a company you must have an accountant, and if you're merely working for yourself you'd be a fool not to use one just in case you're not actually as clever as you think you are with taxes.

That's the UK situation. I don't think other jurisdictions where EEVBlog members reside differ enormously.

How do you climb a mountain? One step at a time... I really dislike people with a "can't do, impossible job, will fail" attitude. With such an attitude you won't get far and keep paying through the nose to have something done you can easely do yourself.

The first question is: how many of all those pages actually apply to the situation of an individual person? The answer: only a few. And what applies is a very beaten path so it is easy to get information about what is what. It is not like the situation of a sole proprietor is similar to Google with lots of employees and international branches. For big companies it makes sense to have tax lawyers and it is not unheard of that such companies sue to government in order to get a clarification on certain tax rules or even make special deals. But all of this is entirely unrelevant to an individual person running a small company with (maybe) a couple of employees.

And the kicker is that you'll always be responsible for what is handed over to the government's tax department. So as an individual or as a company owner you will have to know about what tax rules apply to you and whether you paid too much or too little. If your accountant makes an error, you (or your company) will be the one paying the fine (or worse: end up in jail).

If I look at what Dave is spending on an accountant I'd say: that is a lot of money for 2 weeks worth of work at most. And it is recurring every year so it is worthwhile to learn how to do that yourself. It is like making 8 grand in 2 weeks.

[PlainName]

how many of all those pages actually apply to the situation of an individual person?

1. You don't know what you don't know.

2. The discussion here is not for an employee-type single person but a business owner.

3. The UK government provide "a spreadsheet for measuring the relative complexity of parts of the UK tax system" (attached) which shows that most of it (even just income tax) is in the range medium..complex with few bits marked straightforward.