Anyone Selling Downloadable Vids, As Opposed To Youtube Ads?

[endurovlog]

just for the hell of it a few us decided to try improving our dirt riding skills in 2014, and posted training vids when we got reasonably okay at a new technique. also started putting up our general ride vids... these became quite popular and i was advised recently these were kind of like a vlog so joined up to learn more here!

i've had subscribers urging me to cash in and allow youtube ads but personally i hate ads, don't want to subject others to them, and dislike how youtube goes about it too.

other guys have wanted to donate for using the training vids, but don't feel comfortable with that either. i suggested doing a special vid every now and then and just putting it up cheaply for download and they are all enthusiastic about that.

so just wondering if anyone has ever done something like this, and have any advice? i googled around and had a look at a few options like gumroad, sellfy and vimeo.

vimeo made the most sense but there's a fairly hefty up front fee for something that might not even do that well so not too keen on that....

 

[hungabustavlogs]

Have you heard of Patreon? Sounds like it could be a good fit

 

[Fobs]

build your own site... pretty cheap like $20 for registering the first time and then like $8 a month... upload the vids there and if you don't like taking money from your viewers just sell search... that way they get something from you and you get advertisement from them... it's just a nice way of doing business as apposed to ads and whatnot.

 

[endurovlog]

thanks guys. i hadn't specifically seen patreon but had seen fundme which is very similar.

fobs, i already have a site although i'd probably need to upgrade to a more expensive plan to allow uploading several gb of videos then getting unlimited bandwidth to allow people to download them directly from the site. i assume you were thinking paypal for payment, and just have a password to access the vids?

 

[Fobs]

thanks guys. i hadn't specifically seen patreon but had seen fundme which is very similar.

fobs, i already have a site although i'd probably need to upgrade to a more expensive plan to allow uploading several gb of videos then getting unlimited bandwidth to allow people to download them directly from the site. i assume you were thinking paypal for payment, and just have a password to access the vids?

Yes something along those lines. although i believe the free hosting plans are like 10gb free... unless you have 4k videos or over 15 vids i can't see that being a problem.

 

[endurovlog]

i'll check that out further fobs. at this stage i'm thinking gumroad might suit best. you can upload the vids directly to their site, they do full automated payment facilities directly with the credit card companies and take 5% which is quite reasonable. they seem to get good reviews from the few i've read...

 

[RealRider]

Many, many users use adblock anyway so they don't see ads on youtube. May as well put ads in for the rare click.

 

[endurovlog]

lots of subscribers have been suggesting i do the youtube ads, realrider... and said they don't mind if it's supporting the channel. i simply hate ads and probably the biggest issue would be you don't have control over how they mess with your ad e.g. those 15 and 30 second ads you have to watch before getting to the main vid. i just click off any vid that starts with that crap....

interesting that i have adblock but it doesn't seem to be blocking those.

 

[SwissMotard]

You get full choice over type what ads you show.

Image overlay only, pre-roll video, forced pre-roll video, long pre-roll video, ad breaks etc. can all be individually toggled.

 

[Winski357]

Sorry for the threadjack but do you actually make a decent amount of money from YouTube ads? Never really knew how that all worked. Have to say though, I have to REALLY want to see a video for me to sit through a 15 or 30 second ad in the beginning.

 

[Clint Love]

Sorry for the threadjack but do you actually make a decent amount of money from YouTube ads? Never really knew how that all worked. Have to say though, I have to REALLY want to see a video for me to sit through a 15 or 30 second ad in the beginning.

I became fully monetized in early July. So far I have made $132 with just the ads. I have just over 1000 subscribers and I have one vid that pulls in quite a few views right now, so I expect it to slow down. Most of my vids get about 100 views or so a week lately. The "big" one gets about 15000 views a month right now and it's pulling in the lion's share of the ad money.

I have overlay ads and skippable ones at the beginning.

 

[Winski357]

I became fully monetized in early July. So far I have made $132 with just the ads. I have just over 1000 subscribers and I have one vid that pulls in quite a few views right now, so I expect it to slow down. Most of my vids get about 100 views or so a week lately. The "big" one gets about 15000 views a month right now and it's pulling in the lion's share of the ad money.

I have overlay ads and skippable ones at the beginning.

Huh! No wonder so many people monetize their vids lol

 

[Clint Love]

Huh! No wonder so many people monetize their vids lol

Yeah, it's basically getting a paycheck for doing what I was already doing anyway. My motovlogging setup cost me just over $300, probably around $350 after all the little bullshit, so I'm not even halfway paid back yet!

 

[Runnin1ife]

Yeah, it's basically getting a paycheck for doing what I was already doing anyway. My motovlogging setup cost me just over $300, probably around $350 after all the little bullshit, so I'm not even halfway paid back yet!

Ha did you include the price of your bike in that? If they are a new to riding motovloger then start up cost is like 10 G. If you make more than that though ever you can tech claim it on taxes.

 

[Clint Love]

Ha did you include the price of your bike in that? If they are a new to riding motovloger then start up cost is like 10 G. If you make more than that though ever you can tech claim it on taxes.

Nope, but I didn't buy the bike with the intention of vlogging. I had been kicking the idea around in my head for a while. Mostly I was just "Derp. I want a Ducati and I want to go fast!" I'm definitely looking into the tax thing. My new computer, I just bought with the intention of using it for rendering vids and improving quality, thereof, so I plan to write it off next year.

If you're new and approaching vlogging as a business, you could factor in Camera, Mic, Sound Recorder, Associated doodads, Computer, Software, Clothes and Safety Gear, Bike, Insurance, Gas/Miles, Parts, MAintenance costs, tools, Merchandise, Hotel Stays, and all sorts of stuff! You spend $10,000 on all that stuff and only make $150 in income off it the first year and you have a pretty good tax break.

 

[LexRevz]

There's monetizing your videos, and there's putting up videos that are viewable by purchase only. I think you should go with the purchase option for your training vids. Seems like a good idea. I may do a video on how to set that up on my channel soon. Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

[TheDutchTexan]

I monetized from the get go. My opinion on the matter was simple. If I create content for YouTube than I should be entitled to some income from that content. But, in those two years I have not even recouped the cost of a single camera. I just started motovlogging. I love it, and I am really not doing it for the cash. Don't get me wrong, it would be awesome if it would turn into something that could pay some bills, but that's just not my end goal. My goal is to be part of the community and have fun. And I am successful in both in my opinion.

 

[Marbro_za]

Sadly i dont think anyone would pay to see mine.
But if it can bring in a few dollars to you, Go for it. If you dont want the money, do give aways or something, Give back to the people who support you.