Is YouTube a business to you?

[Shamik (iWanDatCake)]

Okay well, I might be slow on the uptake but I literally just found out today that people make videos to earn money.
Like damn! Why did I not get that memo? I swear I had no idea you could make money off YouTube. (Again. I know I'm slow, you don't have to rub it in. Have a heart.)
Despite that, I don't really think I want to make money off my channel.
I'm kinda scared that once you start thinking about the money you sort of don't care about the quality of your videos so long as you're raking in the cash.
Or is that just me?
What is YouTube to you? A business or a place of creative expression. Or both?

 

[SKR6_Recon]

To me, youtube is a creative expression, I personally love to upload, to entertain, not what I make out of it. I usually spend 2-3 hours recording, then an hour of editing, and about 5 minutes of uploading, so I try to put my utmost passion into my videos

 

[Shamik (iWanDatCake)]

To me, youtube is a creative expression, I personally love to upload, to entertain, not what I make out of it. I usually spend 2-3 hours recording, then an hour of editing, and about 5 minutes of uploading, so I try to put my utmost passion into my videos

I agree with you 100%. Not to say that I'd turn down some extra cash. I'm just not sure if it'd interfere with the authenticity of my videos.

 

[KdawgCreations]

To me for the past 7 years its still been just a hobby for fun. But I do try to treat it not like a business in the sense of money, but in the sense of reaching my product to more people. To me though, since youtube can vary so much. Doing it for the money (not always) can sometimes show to some people and may cause your content to get sour. (Of course that mostly isn't the case for many who can hire good people to help them stay afloat)

 

[Caber]

I honestly think of YouTube as a hobby, a way that I can share my experiences with people while making them laugh.

 

[Cameron Dubs]

I think of YouTube as a hobby, but don't get me wrong, I do monetize the content on my channel.

Just keep seeing it as a hobby. The moment you see it as a business, this is when it all goes downhill

And Large Channels are probably encouraged more to make sure that the quality is not lost when they monetize. This is because of the fact that they will already have many fans viewing their videos, meaning that there is a lot of pressure on it being good. Although they may make the money for that particular view, if a video lacks quality, then even if they lose 1% of their subs due to the video (which to a large channel will be a lot) then they will lose money in the future, as they will have lost views per vid.

I hope that makes sense, cause I just kind of typed it as it came into my head

 

[jolvlogs]

My videos are monetized. At the same time though, the money I earn is next to nothing. So I don't even worry about what I'm earning. So add me to the it's a hobby and a creative outlet for me.

 

[BattleOfTheVideos]

It will be in the near future... if anyone becomes pretty succesful its good pocket money... good bonus to your outcome

 

[Wreckless Eating]

Treating YouTube as a business is one of the best things we ever did. If anything, it's made making videos more fun and more relaxing because of the increased number of opportunities that have come our way and the fact that we don't really have to worry too much about scraping by on a non existent budget.

 

[jolvlogs]

Treating YouTube as a business is one of the best things we ever did. If anything, it's made making videos more fun and more relaxing because of the increased number of opportunities that have come our way and the fact that we don't really have to worry too much about scraping by on a non existent budget.

I agree in that one has to treat it like a business because it is the brand of "You" that is being put out there. At the same time, I don't have that "Business of You" mentality right now because my videos barely get more than 10 views each, with rare exceptions.

I believe that I have a great work ethic because I do put a lot of work into making my videos and I do schedule as much of my free time as I can around creating content. As of right now however, until the "Business of You" can help with or even take over for my full-time income, it's still a hobby and a creative outlet for me.