What things do you think of when collabing with others?

Jamiethecomic

Jamiethecomic

Well-Known Member
Hey guys.

Collaborations are a great way to helping others and gaining potential views and subscribers gaining views, or visa versa. However they can be quite damaging.

I get asked almost every month for people to be in my videos, I don't know why, I'm not that popular. And it's never to go on their shows. So this got me thinking. When I look to collab with others I look for those who are perfect for the video I have in mind. Whether it's their personality or they their genre/topic of videos is perfect for that specific video I'm making. For example I am not going to look for a Call of Duty 47 let's player to review a pokemon game. I am going to look for a reviewer who has also got connections to Pokemon in some way.

When I am deciding on a collab I look at their quality of video. They could be the funniest reviewer or expert on the topic of pokemon but if they are filming on a potato webcam with a broken microphone I am going to immediately look elsewhere.

I get request to do collabs with people who aren't even in the same genre of video as me. I'm happy to appear as a guest or co-host for a one of video but these requests are from... the best way to describe them is school boy YouTube n00bs. They don't care who I am, they just think by getting a ton of youtubers involved in their videos will help drive up their views and subscribers.

YouTube is a game in the same way social media is considered a game, where the main goal is to gain points and level exp (views and subscribers). Each time you gain a new Subscriber you have level up. So having young players doesn't bother me, they are here just to have fun. But in saying that, I want my career in online video production to work out so I can live my dream of owning a studio that creates a ton of original content even if that means eventually killing off my current content and starting again. So I'm not just going to go out and collab with just anyone, even if they have a million subscribers and are willing to have me. It wouldn't be fair on me because their audience may not like my content and especially not fair on the person(s) who video I am appearing in or vis versa. Their rep is at risk and having someone on their show that isn't even rated to their content, is damaging in ways you may not realise.

Views and subscribers are also a factor I take into account, although it's not the first thing I look for. It's great to have someone who has more subscribers working with you, but you are more likely going to get an acceptance from someone who has close to the same number as you unless they really think your videos are great and believe they need more attention. So most of the time I look for those who have similar stats and although this narrows my outreach at first, by gradually building up I will reach those youtubers I am dreaming of working with because they will see me as someone who is willing to work for views rather than some random n00b youtuber wanting free exposure for little work.

What are your thoughts. Do you accept all collab requests? Are you the type who just asks anyone to collab? Are you like me and plan out if it is a good idea? Or do you just hate the idea of collabs in general?
 
Jamiethecomic said:
Hey guys.

Collaborations are a great way to helping others and gaining potential views and subscribers gaining views, or visa versa. However they can be quite damaging.

I get asked almost every month for people to be in my videos, I don't know why, I'm not that popular. And it's never to go on their shows. So this got me thinking. When I look to collab with others I look for those who are perfect for the video I have in mind. Whether it's their personality or they their genre/topic of videos is perfect for that specific video I'm making. For example I am not going to look for a Call of Duty 47 let's player to review a pokemon game. I am going to look for a reviewer who has also got connections to Pokemon in some way.

When I am deciding on a collab I look at their quality of video. They could be the funniest reviewer or expert on the topic of pokemon but if they are filming on a potato webcam with a broken microphone I am going to immediately look elsewhere.

I get request to do collabs with people who aren't even in the same genre of video as me. I'm happy to appear as a guest or co-host for a one of video but these requests are from... the best way to describe them is school boy YouTube n00bs. They don't care who I am, they just think by getting a ton of youtubers involved in their videos will help drive up their views and subscribers.

YouTube is a game in the same way social media is considered a game, where the main goal is to gain points and level exp (views and subscribers). Each time you gain a new Subscriber you have level up. So having young players doesn't bother me, they are here just to have fun. But in saying that, I want my career in online video production to work out so I can live my dream of owning a studio that creates a ton of original content even if that means eventually killing off my current content and starting again. So I'm not just going to go out and collab with just anyone, even if they have a million subscribers and are willing to have me. It wouldn't be fair on me because their audience may not like my content and especially not fair on the person(s) who video I am appearing in or vis versa. Their rep is at risk and having someone on their show that isn't even rated to their content, is damaging in ways you may not realise.

Views and subscribers are also a factor I take into account, although it's not the first thing I look for. It's great to have someone who has more subscribers working with you, but you are more likely going to get an acceptance from someone who has close to the same number as you unless they really think your videos are great and believe they need more attention. So most of the time I look for those who have similar stats and although this narrows my outreach at first, by gradually building up I will reach those youtubers I am dreaming of working with because they will see me as someone who is willing to work for views rather than some random n00b youtuber wanting free exposure for little work.

What are your thoughts. Do you accept all collab requests? Are you the type who just asks anyone to collab? Are you like me and plan out if it is a good idea? Or do you just hate the idea of collabs in general?
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Well I don't accept all collab requests, though I'm the usually the one to ask for the collab. However, I don't ask for just anyone. When I ask someone to collab, it's because of what they do. Like, if it's something that I'm going to talk about on my audio podcast and they do/have done something on their channel that's related to what I'm going to talk about, that's who I ask. I generally like to only collab with people who are pretty laid back and have a nice personality because that goes a long way. A lot of times, I have to plan it out if it's for the collaborator because they don't want to go into the podcast and improvise, like I do. I usually just jot down sub topics of what I'm going to talk about and start if off from the top of my head. But I think that collabs are a great thing if you can ever get the right people to do it with and it go smoothly.
 
I've never been asked to collab but if I were asked to, there are some things that I'd look for. Ideally I'd like someone to approach me with an idea of what they'd like to create (even if it's just a proposed genre) and I'd like to be able to look at their channel and see why they felt I was a good match. If I can't see any obvious link and they don't provide much information on what they're envisioning, I'd probably still send a message back to find out more but it would be with a similar caution as communicating with someone who wants to do a sub4sub. I think it takes a lot of courage to approach somebody out of the blue and ask if they'd like to work together so I don't think it's fair for me to be nasty to anyone who doesn't match what I'm looking for above.
I've also never asked to collab and it's because I'd want somebody to see in me the stuff I look for other people. I've not had any ideas yet that make me want to eagerly contact somebody and say "we need to try this" and without that, I'd feel a little awkward asking somebody to join me in a video that I can't envision yet.
I hope I don't sound too picky!
 
"I get asked almost every month for people to be in my videos, I don't know why, I'm not that popular."

It's because you're hilarious and likable. Well, that's why we chose you at least :)
 
I decided a while back that my collabs would be reserved for people who I genuinely like and I am friends with in some way. There is nothing worse than hyping up a friendship for the camera, it just doesn't sit right with me. If I like someones content and I wanted to film a video because they'd fit right in it, then by all means I'd ask them but the people I watch are already almost-friends anyway as far as I'm concerned :')
 
I think a lot of small channels just spam out collab requests because literally every guide on "How to grow your channel" says to collab with people, so they think its a way to get more popular rather than a way to actually collaborate on making better content with more resources. It's silly.

If I were to collab with someone there would have to be a very clear idea of what the video would be, otherwise there's no point. We'd have to have similar content and similar goals. It's tough with the kind of content I make, but I have a few ideas, just need to find the right people...
 
Kaleido said:
I think a lot of small channels just spam out collab requests because literally every guide on "How to grow your channel" says to collab with people, so they think its a way to get more popular rather than a way to actually collaborate on making better content with more resources. It's silly.
Click to expand...

That's a good point. I must admit when I started out I considered it after seeing advice tips which now I think about it are terrible to new comers. But held back because I wanted to grow in quality then I would know I deserve to work with some of the amazing people I have worked with rather than feel they were just helping me out of pity.
 
I am looking for the kids (and us their parents) to have fun . Yes I know this is not a common or at least not the primary objective when you make or look for a collab but I don't care. :p
 
I have had a ton of people really want to collaborate with me, get really excited about it...tell me
"lets do this it is going to be awesome" and then they forget all about :) Personally I would rather just make videos and eat lots of vegan food at this point :)
 
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