YouTube Paid Creators $70B in the Last 3 Years - The Future of YouTube

Published 10 months agoΒ β€’Β 7 min read

Hey Creators,

I'm here to tell you the future looks bright! It's never been a better time to be a creator and I'm excited about a lot of what 2024 has in store for all of us going forward. I hope you enjoy this weeks' newsletter!

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Creator News: YouTube CEO Neal Mohan Outlines YouTube's Priorities for 2024 and Beyond!
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​In his 2024 letter to the YouTube Community CEO Neal Mohan made several announcements about YouTube an the Future of the Creator Economy.

  • More than 3 Million Creators are Monetized in the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) and YouTube Paid out More than $70B in the last 3 years to it's content creators
  • YouTube is committed to a vision of AI Assisted Content that EMPOWERS Creators instead of replacing them.
  • YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Subscriptions have reached a combined over 100M Users (Including trials)
  • YouTube is Aggressively Pushing to TV Screen Expansion
  • YouTube Shorts are Here to Stay Forever

My take on this: YouTube is positioning beyond Social Media and has no real direct competition in any category. It is not just a platform, but is becoming part of the fabric of our everyday lives.

Creators should still leverage typical best practices like "trend jacking" but should prioritize EVERGREEN VIDEOS that can be watched at anytime on any device.

Another thing Creators should be looking at, is posting across the multiple formats available on YouTube (Videos,Live, Shorts). Creators keep thinking about the content they WISH was getting more attention.
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I recommend that Creators prioritize meeting their audience where they are and giving them what they want. Instead of trying to convert Short Attention Span Viewers to Long Form Viewers with Content Links, Just push them to another YouTube Shorts Video Instead.

If they want to watch longer videos from you, eventually they will find their way to that content. But if you don't make shorts, you're invisible to a whole audience on YouTube that you could get some kind of support from.

Each video format has it's own value to viewers

SHORTS - Loyal to the Platform and Format
​VIDEOS - Loyal to the Content and Subject/Topic
​LIVE/PODCAST - Loyal to the Creator and Community

Shorts are considered undesirable to traditional long-form content creators because it is seen as devaluing their long-form content.

For Creators who may feel this way, and don't want to risk disrupting a channel they rely on for brand deals, I recommend Creating a secondary Shorts/Highlights channel where they can experiment and benefit from Shorts for their overall brand, without risking their main channel.

Once they have mastered Shorts they can choose whether or not to take advantage of them on the main channel from there. If you want a great tool for repurposing long-form videos into short-form and posting across multiple platforms, I recommend my partner OpusClip.

As for AI Content, there is a lot of concern from many communities regarding AI Content and the replacement of artists, musicians and content creators. YouTube is committed to a future where Creators thrive, and I think the evidence of that is the sheer number of Creators who have benefited from YouTube and it's innovation.

​I talked for nearly 1 Hour with the VP of Creator Products Amjad Hanif about YouTube and AI specifically and their philosophy around AI Content and AI Tools for Creators.

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I WANT TO WORK WITH YOU AND HELP YOU SUCCEED THIS YEAR

Content Creation Changed My Life. It helped me leave a career I no longer enjoyed, it allowed me to build a 6-Figure Business, and it let me become a first time homeowner.

I want to ask for your business and I hope my content up until now has earned your TRUST. I want to work with you either in 1-on-1 Coaching to solve problems for you that may be holding you back, or invite you to join the Awesome Creator Academy Pro Group where we meet 2x Weekly for Office Hours to support fellow Creators and answer any of your questions.

I've been a full-time Creator for YEARS, with ups and downs along the way, and have worked with HUNDREDS of Creators and encountered nearly every problem you can think of, from diversifying income, pivoting to a new niche, reviving a channel after a long break, or finally breaking through and getting noticed after years of struggle.

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CONFESSION: During the Pandemic I stopped uploading for MONTHS at a time and became wildly inconsistent as far as my YouTube growth. The constant doom scrolling and anxiety caused me to gain weight, hate seeing myself on camera or editing, and made me depressed. It became a doom loop that felt impossible to escape and channel growth suffered for it.

Yet it was also one of the most profitable periods of time for me, despite being my lowest period since hitting 100K subscribers, as far as views and subscriber growth.

The last few years of the pandemic I uploaded 75% less content to YouTube... Yet the last 4 years of the pandemic I have averaged an income across all revenue streams of over $300,000 a Year, with the largest income stream coming from long term BRAND DEALS, not Adsense and not Coaching... Sponsored Content.

This taught me something extremely important:

I COULD SURVIVE AND THRIVE WITHOUT BEING DEPENDENT ON YOUTUBE VIEWS.

Diversifying my revenue, building long term partnerships with a focus on UGC Creation and NIL (Name Image Likeness) having a membership community, and tying my brand deals to also increasing recurring affiliate revenue, all allowed me to earn more with less.

What if you could separate yourself from the performance burden, and get off the content treadmill?

Do I want to help you grow and get a Silver or even Gold Play Button? Yes.

Do I want to help you increase your views and get the attention you deserve for your content? Yes.

Do I want you to feel beholden to getting views and sacrifice your mental health to grow a platform you don't actually own? NO.

My goal and desire is to help you build your off-platform revenue streams, long-term partnerships where you create for brands on their platforms, and leverage your good reputation instead of your reach.

I want to help you eliminate the anxiety around your income as a Creator, and defeat the performance burden views an subscribers demand.

If that sounds appealing to you, then I would love to work with you this year through 1-on-1 Coaching or have you join us in the Awesome Creator Academy Pro Group.

My INSIDERS Take on Authentic Content in 2024
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We're hearing a-lot about the return to simpler editing and the end of over-edited content on YouTube. I think that we will see more creators return to embracing simpler and more authentic content that doesn't prioritize aesthetic editing and focuses on emotional connection.

With that in mind I came up with a resource that can help you figure out your own investment in editing your content depending on how much time you have available for your lifestyle and circumstances.

How long should you be editing your YouTube Videos?

You can use this chart based on Video Length and Editing Effort, to help you figure it out.

If you only have 10-20 hours a week because you a working class creator with a Full-Time 40 hour a week job I recommend only making combinations of low to medium effort videos no longer than 8-12 minutes in length and uploading 2x a week. Maybe try to make a banger high effort video once every 3 months…

CREATING MORE RESOURCES FOR YOU

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We've been trying to create more resources for you over at Awesome Creator Academy to build the ultimate Creator Education Business. This includes our library of articles and videos to help you navigate becoming a full-time content creator.

Check out our Academy Member Pro Group! We offer 2 Office Hours Sessions Every Week.

You Will Get Access to All of Our Current and FUTURE Digital Products and Courses as long as you are a paying monthly member!

On top of all of that, you will be part of a community where you can get feedback and accountability partners!

CREATOR NEWS AND UPDATES

Here are some great videos and other content #TeamRoberto has for you!

Have A Question and Need a Quick Answer? ➑️ HMU on Twitter​

My Top 10 Favorite YouTube Tools

πŸš€ Keyword Research (Tubebuddy) https://tubebuddy.com/awesome ​

🎀 Best AI Audio Dubbing Tool (DittoDubbing) https://dittodub.com/a/robertoblake​

πŸ€– Repurposing Content (OpusClip) https://geni.us/getopusclip

🎡 Music (Epidemic Sound) - https://robertoblake.com/go/epidemicsound​

πŸ“ Closed Captions (Rev) - https://robertoblake.com/go/rev​

🎬 Live Streaming App (Streamyard) - https://robertoblake.com/go/streamyard​

πŸ‘• Make and Sell Merch (Spreadshop) https://geni.us/getspreadshop​

πŸ” YouTube Optimization (VidIQ) - https://vidiq.com/roberto​

🎨 Hire Freelancers and Artists (Fiverr) - https://geni.us/getfiverr​

πŸ“š Learn New Skills (Skillshare) - https://geni.us/getskillshare​

πŸ’‘ Get Inspiration from Outlier Viral Videos (1of10) https://geni.us/get1of10com​

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My Favorite Business Tools

πŸ“š Courses and Membership Platform Starting at $69/month (Kajabi) - https://kajabi.com/robertoblake​

πŸ“© Grow Your Own Email List, First 10K Subscribers FREE (ConvertKit) - https://geni.us/convertkitfree​

🌐 Web Hosting and Domains (Bluehost) https://robertoblake.com/bluehost​

πŸ’° Professional Bookkeeping and Taxes (Bench) https://mbsy.co/DS6S7​

πŸ’Έ Easy HR and Payroll (Gusto). https://robertoblake.com/gusto​

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YOUTUBE FILM GEAR

πŸ“Έ Budget YouTube Kit https://kit.co/robertoblake/the-budget-youtube-kit​

πŸŽ₯ Pro YouTube Kit https://kit.co/robertoblake/the-pro-youtube-kit​

🎬 Roberto Blake YouTube Kit https://kit.co/robertoblake/the-roberto-blake-youtube-kit​

🎀 Podcast Gear - https://kit.co/robertoblake/the-pro-podcasting-kit​

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** Creator Tools Mentioned Are Affiliate Links, if you use them I earn a small commission at no additional cost to you

[Some of the links mentioned are affiliate links and if you purchase with them I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.]

SUPPORT FOR CREATORS

If you have more questions I respond the fastest over on Twitter, I frequently check Tweets using #AskRoberto and I host Twitter Spaces each week where you can ask questions on different topics.

Ask Me Anything @robertoblake​

Stay Awesome! -R

🎬 YouTube Educator Helping 13,000 Content+ Creators Go Full-Time 🎀 Podcast Host Bringing Your Creator Economy Insights and InterviewsπŸ“™ Best Selling Author of Create Something AwesomeπŸ“Ή Over 2000 Hours of Live StreamingπŸ“Œ Founder of Awesome Creator Academy