I think it's futile to set out to make a living on YouTube.
Agreed. Every youtuber should have that posted on the wall. Hard to come across one who hasnt complained lately how hard their life on yt is.
My life is pretty sweet
But then again, I have never been 100% dependent on Youtube and/or Patreon income.
Another way that I have supported content creators it through Humble Bundle purchases.
One of the YouTube video game creation channels I follow will create a video and provide an affiliate link to video game creation related bundles. You can donate a pretty large chunk of the sale to the person that provided the affiliate link.
Fran or Dave could make a small fortune if any electronics-related bundles ever come up.
I make a pretty decent chunk from Amazon and Aliexpress. AliExpress affiliate has since surpassed Amazon as an income source.
If you start to see regular videos with links to Aliexpress gadgets you'll know I'm in financial trouble
How many of her current supporters/viewers are actively playing electric guitar? For that reason, guitar pedal effects is obviously the wrong merch to hawk via her YT channel. This seems so obvious to me.
Simple electronics kit. Something like a gag, really. A FranLab soldering challenge with 50 cent PCB with various footprints + BOM of $0.004 parts? A blinking LED 555 kit? A continuity tester PCB with a set of 1.00 test probes? Just as long as she puts her logo on it and pretends to be excited about it. Something that promises 30 minutes of distraction from your daily grind, and will look nice on a shelf or hanging on the wall after that 30 minutes is over.
I don't think time and money is necessarily very significant, here. And would it NOT make for good video content if she showed some of the dev, the design, the arrival of the first box from China and opening it like a X-mas prezzie? I dunno, because I'm not sure what qualifies as "good content" to her subscribers or regular viewers, but it seems to be this is two birds with one stone.
1-3 dollar total cost. Sell it for 15 or 20 bucks. First class shipping, only. If it doesn't get there, ship another. You buy it, you help Fran, and you get a little experience and trinket out of it. Vs sell a guitar pedal to 10% of the 1% of viewers who play the electric guitar, and which will have a tiny profit margin and huge investment in comparison.
Heck, maybe she could sell other peoples' kits for a percentage of gross?
T-shirts? Where does she sell her T-shirts, even? Or does she?
Dunno why she thinks that making the channel self-sustaining without any merch is the "only way it works." Or why this would be insanely expensive. The most amazing thing about electronics is how incredibly cheap it is to get into, today. Free dev and PCB tools out there, millions of components at low prices, Chinese PCB manufacturers coming to us, now, directly on the internet with websites made for us in our languages. No more middlemen or translators needed. And of course all the info and datasheets available on the web, today, clickity click.
If I was in Fran's financial position I would totally start doing sponsored videos rather than let the channel die and have to get a "real job".
I'd be incredibly surprised if she doesn't already get sponsorship offers, every Youtuber does.
The musician stomp pedals and accessories market is still pretty strong,
and a lot of ladies have been getting into it (or should be!) as well
I would suggest Fran consider something in that field as she has the experience already and a Youtube channel to back it up,
and well, truth be told afaik, most ladies will trust the recommendation of other ladies
before considering any gentlemens sales pitches flogging the same or similar items
Just a thought, and best of luck to Fran
The musician stomp pedals and accessories market is still pretty strong,
If memory serves she's talked about this. Modern pedals are all digital and she's only interested in the old school analog stuff.
Another way that I have supported content creators it through Humble Bundle purchases.
One of the YouTube video game creation channels I follow will create a video and provide an affiliate link to video game creation related bundles. You can donate a pretty large chunk of the sale to the person that provided the affiliate link.
Fran or Dave could make a small fortune if any electronics-related bundles ever come up.
I make a pretty decent chunk from Amazon and Aliexpress. AliExpress affiliate has since surpassed Amazon as an income source.
If you start to see regular videos with links to Aliexpress gadgets you'll know I'm in financial trouble
When you start doing Gearbest reviews all hope is lost
Guitar effects could be good for content. But if you have 100,000 subscribers (and average view count of 4k) to a show about old electronics, my gosh you could sell a whole 20 of them a year, lol.
I don't think you get more than single digit percentage of guitar players who watch a Fran video will buy one. And then how many guitar players out of those viewers? I think half her viewers have a soldering iron, and there are probably plenty more who might be interested in buying one (from her affiliate link, maybe?) just to participate.
I'm technically a guitar player, and I'm not interested to pay for Chinese PCBA salaries $60 bucks so that Fran can make $10. Also, I haven't played in a long time. I learned on electric a long time ago, but now I own an acoustic (which I bought in a mid life crisis, tuned it, put it on a stand. I think I might still have it; I might have actually tossed it without every playing it, lol).
3-5k for her content videos. 30k+ on her rant videos. I wonder how many of these 100K subs even own a soldering iron.
The musician stomp pedals and accessories market is still pretty strong,
If memory serves she's talked about this. Modern pedals are all digital and she's only interested in the old school analog stuff.
Surely there's still a market for boutique analog pedals, however I think it would be extremely difficult to make a living from that. It could be a hobby to make some fun money on the side but I'd hate to have to try to pay the billls off selling niche market stuff like that.
clearly you can just make an app for that
with a built in autotuner
Surely there's still a market for boutique analog pedals, however I think it would be extremely difficult to make a living from that. It could be a hobby to make some fun money on the side but I'd hate to have to try to pay the billls off selling niche market stuff like that.
Yeah, would be tough. You'd have to charge a real premium for the hand made and Frantone brand. And a totally revamped professional website.
I think it's futile to set out to make a living on YouTube.
Agreed. Every youtuber should have that posted on the wall. Hard to come across one who hasnt complained lately how hard their life on yt is.
It saddens me that for so many enterprising, smart cookies on y/t, so many of them don't understand what comes after a boom..
My local hackspace moved to a new location...
expenses > income
the predicted, by some, increase in income, has surprise surprise not materialised
leaving...
expenses > income
“How did you go bankrupt?"
Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”
expenses > income
Technically, my business made a loss last year for the first time ever. Cash flow can be a bitch.
ebbs and flow.. you can be building connections, infrastructure, process, (market) research gathering, that will benefit you in the future
Just because you did not make money does not mean its not useful because you might have figured out something difficult on why you did not make money because you did not understand a segment because its not intuitive. its not always the case that you need to stabilize positive cash flow on an arbitrary 1 year cycle, thats planetary alignment and not business time
don't pound on it like its a corn crop
I think it's futile to set out to make a living on YouTube.
Agreed. Every youtuber should have that posted on the wall. Hard to come across one who hasnt complained lately how hard their life on yt is.
It saddens me that for so many enterprising, smart cookies on y/t, so many of them don't understand what comes after a boom..
Yeah. I'm finding the CNBC program 'The Profit' very educational where it comes to running a retail business. Lot's of people with great ideas but some have their heads so far up their asses they can't see how to change their business from losing money to making money. And often it is just little things which make all the difference.
I think it's futile to set out to make a living on YouTube.
Agreed. Every youtuber should have that posted on the wall. Hard to come across one who hasnt complained lately how hard their life on yt is.
It saddens me that for so many enterprising, smart cookies on y/t, so many of them don't understand what comes after a boom..
Yeah. I'm finding the CNBC program 'The Profit' very educational where it comes to running a retail business. Lot's of people with great ideas but some have their heads so far up their asses they can't see how to change their business from losing money to making money. And often it is just little things which make all the difference.
You're electronics professional, cmiiw, I assume you're also fully aware that 'great ideas' in electronics doesn't mean anything. Its all about the devil, that is in the details that matter.
I know. I always say a great idea is only worth something if you can sell it. But that is the thing with the companies they show in the TV show 'the profit'. The people often can sell their ideas but just lack the knowledge/insight of running a business. If you have some following on Youtube you obviously can sell yourself as a brand. The next step is to turn that into a revenue stream. Fran should somehow learn how to tap into that too.
Yeah. I'm finding the CNBC program 'The Profit' very educational where it comes to running a retail business. Lot's of people with great ideas but some have their heads so far up their asses they can't see how to change their business from losing money to making money. And often it is just little things which make all the difference.
Assume anything on television has essentially zero to do with real life. Even though the show seems based on real people and companies it's cut and mangled to make an interesting show. Shows need a narrative and networks tend to create the most appealing one they can make with their footage.
Yeah. I'm finding the CNBC program 'The Profit' very educational where it comes to running a retail business. Lot's of people with great ideas but some have their heads so far up their asses they can't see how to change their business from losing money to making money. And often it is just little things which make all the difference.
Assume anything on television has essentially zero to do with real life. Even though the show seems based on real people and companies it's cut and mangled to make an interesting show. Shows need a narrative and networks tend to create the most appealing one they can make with their footage.
For sure they choose businesses and people which make the most interesting TV (like any reality show does) so it isn't a good view on how the average American business is run. It is still interesting from an educational perspective because the extremes are highlighted.
I think it's futile to set out to make a living on YouTube.
Agreed. Every youtuber should have that posted on the wall. Hard to come across one who hasnt complained lately how hard their life on yt is.
It saddens me that for so many enterprising, smart cookies on y/t, so many of them don't understand what comes after a boom..
Yeah. I'm finding the CNBC program 'The Profit' very educational where it comes to running a retail business. Lot's of people with great ideas but some have their heads so far up their asses they can't see how to change their business from losing money to making money. And often it is just little things which make all the difference.
It the youtuber tech-pundits that are funny. They fawn after the Zuckerburgs and Dorsy, spending the money the channel makes like drunken sailors. Then complain when the pockets are empty. If they instead funneled the bonanza cash of youtube into the 'next' youtube they'd never have to worry about cash ever again. Live the dream.
For sure they choose businesses and people which make the most interesting TV (like any reality show does) so it isn't a good view on how the average American business is run. It is still interesting from an educational perspective because the extremes are highlighted.
They don't just pick interesting people and businesses but also produce and cut the material to represent something the base material did not. The public needs a basic story with a good guy and a villain and some production and cutting room magic ensures every episode has that. The public isn't interested in real life nuances and shades of grey. The extremes you see are propped up and outright created instead of merely observed. Television is make-believe and that includes so called "reality TV". The article below does a decent job describing how things work.
https://hackaday.com/2017/06/05/hacking-on-tv-what-you-need-to-know/
expenses > income
Technically, my business made a loss last year for the first time ever. Cash flow can be a bitch.
That does get technical which is why having professional accountancy advice is IMHO worth every penny. Profit/Loss and cash flow... and assets/liabilities... all part of the rich creative tapestry of accounts.
However, consistently spending more than your income and using that expenditure for ongoing expenses rather than asset purchases just won't work long term; not unless you win the lottery, get loads of people to GoFundYou, marry a sugar daddy, rob a bank, etc.
For sure they choose businesses and people which make the most interesting TV (like any reality show does) so it isn't a good view on how the average American business is run. It is still interesting from an educational perspective because the extremes are highlighted.
They don't just pick interesting people and businesses but also produce and cut the material to represent something the base material did not.
This is a problem why? A clever person can still filter out the relevant bits. In one of the more recent episodes of 'the profit' they showed a company where the manager made a ton of money, didn't perform but the investor kept throwing money at it. Sure there is more to it (as usual there are two sides of the story) but the bottom line "hire people that add value to the business and fire those who don't" is still valid. And it is a good example where a business owner kept his head stuck in his ass.
UPDATE: Eviction 3.0
She has 2 months to get out. The building has been sold and the new owner I guess is not renewing any leases.
Really bad timing, as she just blew a load of money on the zero-g flight and the flight school.
Video on her Patreon channel.
Technically, my business made a loss last year for the first time ever. Cash flow can be a bitch.
Me too! I went out and bought a new(er) pick and place machine. It ended up costing me over $7500, with accessories and repair parts. The machine at auction price was only $500, then there was shipping, a forklift rental, lots of parts needed to get it running and then feeders, lots of feeders. Details in the assembly section.
Jon