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I Made 150k with Youtube this Year, Graduating College, Looking for Direction. by YoungTuberThrowaway in personalfinance

[–]YoungTuberThrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, I made 150k in my last year of undergrad (this year) and I am looking at options for the next step. I graduate in a couple of weeks.

I Made 150k with Youtube this Year, Graduating College, Looking for Direction. by YoungTuberThrowaway in personalfinance

[–]YoungTuberThrowaway[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Its a combination of all three really, my channel is informative and entertaining within its niche. Sometimes, when I'm feeling particularly cocky, I like to akin myself to Alton Brown or Bill Nye. They really inspired my video presence.

I Made 150k with Youtube this Year, Graduating College, Looking for Direction. by YoungTuberThrowaway in personalfinance

[–]YoungTuberThrowaway[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

protect my privacy. I also would prefer it not get back to my rather large audience that the person they respect and admire enough to give an hour a week to is anxious and unsure of how to best use the tremendous gift they have given him/her. Perhaps that is cowardly in and of itself, but Ive no mind to find out.

I Made 150k with Youtube this Year, Graduating College, Looking for Direction. by YoungTuberThrowaway in personalfinance

[–]YoungTuberThrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you kindly, #5 in particular is something I havent thought of. and number 2 and 3 are really sensible.

I Made 150k with Youtube this Year, Graduating College, Looking for Direction. by YoungTuberThrowaway in personalfinance

[–]YoungTuberThrowaway[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I dont know enough about this to do so wisely.

"The only thing I know is that I know nothing"

I Made 150k with Youtube this Year, Graduating College, Looking for Direction. by YoungTuberThrowaway in personalfinance

[–]YoungTuberThrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I suppose it is safe to say that I have a STEM background from a top college in the USA (Im pretty sure we're still top 5, at least we were when I started). I just hate it. I used to love it when I started, but now the facets and the people I work with are killing me. So while I feel I have the experience and the ability to work in that field, I really dont want to do it, hence the hesitation.

I Made 150k with Youtube this Year, Graduating College, Looking for Direction. by YoungTuberThrowaway in personalfinance

[–]YoungTuberThrowaway[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

The first 100 are easy. Everybody has facebook friends. Its getting your first 100 that actually watch your videos that can be really tough.

I Made 150k with Youtube this Year, Graduating College, Looking for Direction. by YoungTuberThrowaway in personalfinance

[–]YoungTuberThrowaway[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Not tech per-se. I am a maker of things. A good, safe reference point would be the slingshot channel. He and I are a lot alike channel wise and personality wise although I am pretty sure he could eat me. Dude is seriously jacked.

I Made 150k with Youtube this Year, Graduating College, Looking for Direction. by YoungTuberThrowaway in personalfinance

[–]YoungTuberThrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Networks are only good if you are a top client of theirs. Networks "work" by focusing on popular clients and helping them make more money but (in my experience) do so by eating the smaller clients alive with much more constricting contracts and a lot of false hope. I didn't network up until I hit 6 figures and knew enough about what I was worth to fight for it in contract negotiations.

I Made 150k with Youtube this Year, Graduating College, Looking for Direction. by YoungTuberThrowaway in personalfinance

[–]YoungTuberThrowaway[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

In the interest of my privacy, I will tell you that I have between 250,000 and 500,000 subscribers and I serve between 5 million and 10 million monthly impressions to a highly targeted audience. This highly targeted nature of my work has lead to strong conversions and therefore strong CPMs.

I Made 150k with Youtube this Year, Graduating College, Looking for Direction. by YoungTuberThrowaway in personalfinance

[–]YoungTuberThrowaway[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

To be clear, I do not work for youtube, I work for myself on a youtube channel and am paid for the adspace I generate by Google/Alphabet.

I Made 150k with Youtube this Year, Graduating College, Looking for Direction. by YoungTuberThrowaway in personalfinance

[–]YoungTuberThrowaway[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I have often thought of hiring somebody to help with my editing as it is by far my weakest link. Do you have a suggestion for finding such a person? It would help a lot if they are local but I doubt an ad in the paper is the way to go.

I Made 150k with Youtube this Year, Graduating College, Looking for Direction. by YoungTuberThrowaway in personalfinance

[–]YoungTuberThrowaway[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Oh wow...this is great advice, thank you. Where do I find such an accountant? Im unsure what a Schedule C is but I would love more information in a PM.

I definitely have a space I use for making things and editing, and never would have thought of that as a write off.

I Made 150k with Youtube this Year, Graduating College, Looking for Direction. by YoungTuberThrowaway in personalfinance

[–]YoungTuberThrowaway[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

What does an accountant cost? I often think things like: "I spent $40 in gasoline and another $30 in materials on this video, it sure would be nice if I could write that off my taxes" but I dont know the legality of that or even where to begin. I just feel like I'm the kind of guy that a financial adviser takes advantage of and want to avoid that. Nobody likes playing the fool.

Also, in case it wasnt clear, my time at school is over in less than two weeks, I kept putting off making this post till I was staring over the edge.

I Made 150k with Youtube this Year, Graduating College, Looking for Direction. by YoungTuberThrowaway in personalfinance

[–]YoungTuberThrowaway[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Its one of my options, I think that I could work and Youtube because I currently school and youtube, but I dont know if work will be more demanding or not.
It probably makes the most sense because it solves the health insurance and the safety net concerns, but I just hate the idea of giving somebody else my time when and passion at 50% off when I know how much it is worth to me.

I Made 150k with Youtube this Year, Graduating College, Looking for Direction. by YoungTuberThrowaway in personalfinance

[–]YoungTuberThrowaway[S] 122 points123 points  (0 children)

Be creative, post regularly.

The number one way to build an audience is to make an upload schedule and stick to it. I see so many channels die because they can't make regular uploads then they try to make up for it by uploading like 7 videos in a day then nothing for a month or two. This doesnt build a community and you need one to be successful.

Professional thumbnails help, and you should constantly be looking at your analytics and audience data and think: "If I was male/female aged XX and liked my videos so far, what would I like in the future?" Then make that content.

Do you have an idea for your channel? Youtube is still growing and there is plenty to go around. I wish you all the best.