Big Youtubers with few updates - why?

[McCool]

Making more videos doesn't necessarily correlate to being worth your time. Some people are spending those off-days trying to get brand deals. That's where the real money is!

That is true. I am primarily talking about those who due to their fame and channel size get a million views or more within days on almost everything they upload. But then again, those people are of course very attractive in the eyes of sponsors and such. The value of getting your game played by someone like PewDiePie (I don't know if he sells exposure this way - it is just an example) is probably worth a ton of money to any game publisher.

I feel that one piece of the puzzle (hey - see what I did there!) might be that some of the big younger youtubers (I am really showing my age here - 'back in the day when people actually had to work for a living' and so on...) have not had a full time job ever and are somewhat detached when it comes to how much most people actually have to work to make something like $50.000.

I don't want to out someone that (in my opinion) is wasting their opportunities big time and was the main reason I started this thread, but I think that PewDiePie and Grav3yardgirl are good examples of people that do things the right way. They are probably very aware of the fact that the current situation might not last forever and are making the most of it while they can without delivering a worse production just because they release new stuff frequently.

 

[Marilia]

I believe it is also because they simply don't have to upload more than once a week

Uploading once a week gives them more than enough views and revenue and people continue to support them even if they miss a whole month of uploads

 

[CaptainElisabeth]

I totally agree.

It just seems like such a lost financial opportunity, especially considering how fast trends change. I am sure that a lot of the big names today - some of them already at a point in their 'Youtube-lifespan' where the number of subscribers are way higher than 10x the number of views on most of their newer videos - will not be around as major players in a few years.

I have to point out that I am primarily talking about those who make short 'talking to the camera about nothing in particular'-type videos where editing and production is almost non-existent, and the main effort is actually figuring out what they should talk about for 5-6 minutes this week.

I am sure a lot of those will kick themselves very hard a few years down the line when they realize that they could have made so much more money at the height of their 'fame' by working two days a week instead of one. And maybe along the way try out some new things once in a while (as a second video of the week - not as a replacement for the type of content the channel is known for) to see if that works out instead of trotting along in the same tracks for years.

As someone who has tried to make those sort of low-production videos, I can say they take a LOT more effort and creativity than it seems. It's damn hard to come up with a topic and make it interesting enough to pass. And it's just as affected by the waves of creativity than anything else. And honestly, the money doesn't matter. Like seriously, even most 'bigger' YouTubers just barely get enough to live off -- and that's the ones who upload DAILY. So it really doesn't make a difference, and honestly, how much money other people earn, and how they go about earning it, shouldn't be any of your concern.

 

[McCool]

how much money other people earn, and how they go about earning it, shouldn't be any of your concern.

Ah, sorry for bringing up what I thought was an interesting observation. I'll keep my mouth shut around here from now on and just lurk in the forums like I did before I registered.

As a person who have paid my own way through life since I moved out at the age of 19 I am just amazed at seeing people who have a golden opportunity to increase their income significantly by working a bit more - and by doing so probably have a much higher 'salary' per extra hour they put into it than they will ever have in the rest of their lives - just let that option pass them by. But then again, people should of course be allowed to live in the now and don't plan further ahead than next months rent if they want to do that

 

[clerick]

For a lot of people like myself youtube is not a sustainable income anymore. Because editing (or in my case animating) takes a long time to do (sometimes upwards to several months, and two weeks for a rush job), you would think quality would be rewarded. However youtube only cares about mass uploads of videos with 10 minutes of lenght of more, and the higher the watch time the more $ you get. It's why there has been a huge exodus of "big" animators from youtube. For comparison pre 2012 change, i now earn 1/6th of what i earned then despite having 1 million views or more a month than I did back then.

If you can dish out content super quickly via bloging/letsplay then great! But for quality sakes unless you have financial backing from elsewhere you're only gonna really do it on the side for fun.

 

[Rehannah]

I think it gives time for the other videos to grow and also I think as you get more famous on YouTube, the more opportunities are opened and the less time you have for the types of videos you normally did. That's why some fans say that they want the old you. You won't notice it but your fans will.

 

[markkaz]

...
So it really doesn't make a difference, and honestly, how much money other people earn, and how they go about earning it, shouldn't be any of your concern.

As he stated in his original post, it just puzzled him.

I think that it is a good topic for a discussion compared to some of the other topics that are here.

 

[MarkRodriguez2012]

Honestly, what that many views and subs and whatnot can rake in the cash with one video per week cause that one video gets tons of action.

 

[Invisible]

Ah, sorry for bringing up what I thought was an interesting observation. I'll keep my mouth shut around here from now on and just lurk in the forums like I did before I registered.

@McCool relax, its nothing bad to talk about money

Answering to your topic question - my bet is that those youtubers, who are popular and earning enough and are not much active with new videos, they may find its enough earnings for their living and supporting their family, maybe they just do not want to rape themselves to do more, they just enjoying their lifes instead, since they are able now to afford themselves much more than before

Plus, of course, some more opportunities coming along the way, at least because they have a budget for a good kick-start for a new project outside youtube etc. just to stay safer in that case if something goes unexpected with youtube in future.

 

[Click]

I would say the reason for this is cause when you get big you have a lot to do like reply to comments and making high quality content and hours of recording to get the content you would like to present to your viewers.