MOMETEK's Guide: Youtube

Showing posts with label Youtube. Show all posts

Thursday, August 10, 2017

My decision - Most likely my last blog post here

I've decided to migrate away from the bigger social media companies. This includes blogger, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. I do NOT like where this is going.

The problem with Google and Facebook, as companies, is that they don't realize who uses their platform. Yes there's a lot of people who criticize certain groups, but there's even more who will stand by free speech. People who's content are seemingly benign. These are the ones you should worry about.

COMPETENT people are for open discussions even if it means letting idiots have their say.
COMPETENT people are for the free market (not corporatism, that is different)
COMPETENT people are patient, but do have their limits, and when those limits are reached, they'll leave in DROVES.

But it's not just the users that will leave, if the economy improves, it will also be the employees. You fired one of them already. Many more will follow. Then you will be stuck with people who have no clue on how to run a business and they will drive Google to the ground.

There are more competent people than the vile, race/sex-baiting hedonistic-type people you see screeching on network television. There are more us than of them.

If Google doesn't realize this soon, I give them a few more years. They're catering to the wrong people. After all, there's a real reason why network television is STILL losing viewers and revenue.

FYI, I'm not shutting down any of my accounts. It is possible that Google will realize what they are doing and change their policies before it's too late. In the meantime, check out http://www.mometek.com. I will start posting articles there after a few weeks.

There's also the problem that all these sites are integrated in logins. I have an Android phone which is pretty much owned by Google. I'm finding it difficult to get family to switch to an alternative. A lot of people will have a difficult time leaving - for the same reason why I have a difficult time leaving. No one else will move.

It was only recently that I got back onto Twitter. It was to improve the likelihood that my posts will be seen. Now, I'm going back to using Twitter only as an aggregator - until I find something else. Gab.ai seems to be okay, but I don't know how well it works with other sites.

Anyway, I'm going to be one of the few that actually announce "the leaving". Most will quietly find something else. No complaints. No sound.

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Store Update

Items in the Store

Finally, the CafePress store is very close to the design of my blog. Okay, maybe not, but at least when you visit it, you can tell that it belongs to this site.

My next project for this site is to fix mometek.com. I don't think I will be able to do that until Friday since I have another site to work on.

I've also added more journals if you are interested. I will be buying a few for myself and the kids. Two of them want one for drawing. Since one of the options happens to be blank pages, they'll have their drawing journals.

I do have a lot more planned for MOMETEK. Like the MOMETEK Facebook page, subscribe to MOMETEK YouTube channel (soon!), and for updates for more than just MOMETEK, follow me on Twitter.

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Why I am for Net Neutrality

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Most people who know me will know that I am for limited government. However, most laws are in place to prevent the problems that are caused by laws to prevent the problems that were caused by laws to prevent the problems that were caused by laws that were based on good intentions.

Removing the right law at the wrong time is like picking the wrong block on a Jenga tower. The crash during the Bush (jr) administrations is an example of this. Since my blog is a tech blog, and not a political one (unless the two meet), I won't get into the details of that one.

Net neutrality laws are to prevent the problems that are caused by laws preventing competition. The larger companies have secured their monopoly by encouraging laws that are supposedly put in place to help the consumer.

Until we can limit government intervention in other areas, net neutrality laws are keeping the internet as the ultimate free market. You can start a competing website to YouTube and Comcast, and no one can stop you.

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

YouTube drama continues

Above: Seriously Strange by Rob Dyke. This show is reminiscent of "Unsolved Mysteries" and not as gory as "Rescue 911" - and yet, advertisers in a more "conservative" time were happy to have their brands next to those shows.

Don't get me started on Adult Swim and the News.

Rob decided to do some daily shows that are - well, less elaborate and more vulgar besides his professionally done weekly shows. I think this is his not-so-subtle ways of giving the boycott the virtual middle finger - he's very close to making his financial goal, without ad revenue.

Keep in mind, Rob pays people to work on his videos (not sure about the dailies). This means if he quits, however many people he employs will be jobless. The boycott can potentially kill jobs.

Proud of yourself companies that are boycotting YouTube?

What companies don't understand is that not only the best of YouTubers will find other ways to make money and still go on. Even if it means moving to other video platforms. They are not going to kill free speech in a free market. It's going to go on and the only harm that they do is to themselves.

Speaking of which, they also don't seem to understand that a boycott can go both ways.

Boycott companies “Boycotting” YouTube’s advertisement program

Perhaps it's time to show companies who funds them?

To be fair to Google, they are kind of stuck in the middle. The people running Google are not stupid. They know that most of the content creators will find other ways to fund them. They also know that by restricting ads in this manner can actually do more harm to companies who want their ads to be seen by as many people as possible.

A boycott on YouTube is not going to let that happen.

Again, I say don't leave YouTube. Find other ways to make money. Then perhaps (as best you can, some are unavoidable), avoid the brands that have boycotted YouTube. Time for a brand restricted diet.

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This time, it is the last one about the YouTube boycott. I have a few new blogs planned, including "Grammerly" which I will get into in my next post.

If you like what you see, share this post. If you really like what you see, consider a small donation or purchasing from the MOMETEK Cafepress store.

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

A Heads up to YouTube

*Sigh*

I was actually going to do some research on something other than YouTube, but apparently, something else has come up.

(warning, video does contain harsh language)

It appears they aren't exactly leaving, but most of their content (their podcast) is now going to be on Twitch. However, this is a start of content providers moving and if you think their subscribers are going to stay and watch YouTube videos for "ad friendly" content - think again.

I'm going to level with you. I'm not subscribed to H3H3 and I'm not interested in his show. However, it's only my opinion, and I can see that he is a favorite among other YouTubers. As a matter of fact, over 3 million disagree with me.

I'd say about 2 million of that will go where H3H3 goes. They will not look back. That's 2 million that won't even look at an Ad and could possibly boycott a product if the company makes them angry enough (I'm looking at you, Pepsi).

So much of taking advantage of a hot market to sell your product.

YouTube (and subsequently Google), do NOT ignore your content creators. They are just as much as customers as the viewers. If they leave, they will take most of their viewers with them and you will kill what made YouTube great in the first place.

Oh, yeah. Bring fan funding back. I suspect it will do better now.

Saturday, April 22, 2017

Should you give Up YouTube?

Español: Logo Vectorial de YouTube (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

(Last one on the subject, I promise)

So my last post and the one before that, I talked about alternative ways to making money on YouTube. However, there are a lot of people who want to leave YouTube altogether.

I don't know if that's a good idea, yet. The people that are hit the hardest, are the ones who have thousands of subscribers. The problem with leaving YouTube is that you will be mostly starting over. A lot of your fans will go there with you, but most won't give up watching YouTube unless they have some incentive. That incentive has to be bigger than the consequences of change.

YouTube, on the other hand, had been a money pit for the longest time. Then they manage to strike a deal with large corporate sponsors. Suddenly YouTube was making a lot of money and it appeared to be finally self-sustainable.

Google is a business. They need to make a decision that will make money. As bad as it looks for content creators, Google cannot alienate them either.

However, cross-posting to other sites isn't a bad idea. You may find new viewer on lesser used sites. So, below is a list of site you might want to check out.

First, the two sites that I settled on:

Minds.com
I signed up to Minds a while back, found that they have a long way to go before they were a viable alternative to any social media site. I completely forgot about it until the recent demonetization fiasco. Suddenly, "minds.com" was turning up everywhere and I decided to give them another shot.

It's more like Facebook with a blog feature. The media uploads need a little work. Again, stay on YouTube where you can post your video, then embed it on Minds. I have a feeling that uploading and posting videos will become easier as time goes on.

Vid.me
I've seen this one pop up a lot recently. I signed on but I haven't posted any videos - yet. I planned on cross posting from YouTube when, if ever, I get started on vblogging again.

There are two direct opportunities for monetization. The first is tips. There is a little link at the bottom of your video that allows people to give you money. The other opportunity is you can charge for a subscription. Vid.me only allows this if you verify your account and since I mostly use Vid.me for commenting on other people's videos, I didn't get that far. It does seem straightforward.

I did upload a video:

The embed feature needs some work. I should be able to state the width and the height should adjust accordingly in the embed code. Unfortunately, with Blogger, you need to embed the video using HTML. With YouTube, you can just put in the URL.

The following I haven't checked out. Keep in mind that these are only potential alternatives. They may or may not be for you. The only way you will know if you check them out yourself.

Vimeo.com
Vimeo seems to be for potential movie producers and talented Video editors. I didn't see a whole lot of "Fail" video compilations. It does allow you make paid content.

GodTube
For those of you who identify yourself as a Christian and you want to do more Bible studies than this is a site for you. However, while I see ads on the site, I don't think there's a way to monetize your videos. Most of these people have a website where their viewers donate, or they have another means of income.

Then, of course, there are live stream video sites. Unlike YouTube (which also has a live streaming service), they focus more on live streams rather than on uploads. Three Examples:

Ustream.tv (now owned by IBM)
Twitch.tv (Once for just gamers, and now for every creative person)
Livestream.com

Those are just the few that I found that might be worth cross-posting to. If you do a google search, there are plenty of alternatives, but few are actually as good as YouTube. YouTube has been around long enough to iron the normal bugs out. Which is why I say don't jump ship yet, it's for your own good, at least.

If you think this post was worth anything, share!

Monday, April 17, 2017

Other ways to make money on YouTube

Journal in my Cafepress Store

I did some research and it took much longer than I thought it would. Then it was the Holidays. Anyone with kids know how busy the holidays can be.

I didn't realize how many more "swag" companies have turned up since I've signed onto Cafepress. I don't have time to test them all, so instead, I'm going to give you the ideas and the resources for you to check out yourself.

Product Placement

This has been going on since before YouTube implemented the partnership program. YouTube does have a policy in regards on how product placements are handled. Be sure to read their policy before using product placement or your version of an ad.

In spite on how long it's been going on, it's not that common, probably because it's much easier to use the automatic ad placement feature than trying to incorporate the product into your video.

There are two ways to get product placement,. One is get so many views that companies are begging you to "review" their product. The other is affiliate programs.

Affiliate placement ads seems to be used more, especially by people who don't normally do reviews or don't have that many subscribers.

I think the latest one I've seen is LootCrate (no, I have no connection or was paid to link to their site). What people would do is address the product in their video one way or another, then place the link in the comments.

A problem with this is that the link only works in a browser. If someone is watching TV, they can't click on the link. To resolve this, some affiliate programs allow you to have a custom link. You put the link in your video and people who want to see the site you advertise can type it up on their phone or PC. Just make sure the link is there long enough for people to remember it.

Just a recommendation: don't sell anything you wouldn't use yourself. I don't have LootCrate as an affiliate because I don't use them. I heard they were good, but we do live in a Motorhome, so space is limited, and I'm not much of a collector of anything. However, if it's your thing, try it out before you sell it.

The best way to be an affiliate is to go to your favorite store or product and scroll to the bottom. Some site do advertise their affiliate programs on their front page, but most do not and instead, have a link at the bottom. Some even bury it more, and you will have to click on "Opportunities" or "Contact us".

"Swag"

There are several sites where you can put your logo, your catchphrase, and your artwork on products to sell.

Some sites allow you to open your store without any upfront costs. People buy your items and the site does all the work. The problem with this is that there's usually a high base cost. You really can't sell your items cheaply - that is, if you want to make any form of profit - because you can sell it less than the base cost.

The journal in the picture above is only $1 more than the base cost (Transparency FTW!). So, when you can get a nice one at Walmart for $7, it kind of makes it difficult to make any profit on journals.

There are some sites that let you buy in bulk and get it for super cheap. However, you may have to have $100 or more on hand and you will have to keep an inventory, with no guarantee that anyone would buy anything.
Like I said in the beginning, I only use Cafepress, so I'm not sure about the others. You may want to consider doing some research before signing on. Here's the list of sites to check out:

Cafepress - One I use. Very easy to use, high base cost, no real work on the store on your part except picking out a template. If you want to customize your store more, it gives you that option.

Zazzle - I think I have an account here, never used it. I don't quite remember much, but it's very similar to Cafepress. Looks like there are plenty of changes since I've seen it last.

Imprint - It has the most variety of product, but you have to keep an inventory. Cheap per-item cost, but you need cash up front.

CustomInk - Just found this one recently. It doesn't appear to have built in store tools. You have to buy in bulk.

Society6 - This is new to me. Judging by the prices of the mugs, there might be a lower base cost than Cafepress

Printful - Another one I recently discovered. Base costs are still relatively high and variety seems low. However, there are some items on there that are not on Cafepress, so it may depend on what you want to sell. It also seems that Printful uses a different form of printing, allowing you to custom design some clothing.

There are more ways to make money, however, what I listed are probably the easiest. Other ideas include, coming up with your own product, writing a guide,calendar or book to sell, or set up a store to sell products you buy yourself.

Hopefully this helps those who are interested in making money on YouTube without using the Ads program. If a lot more people start doing this, it is possible that Google and even the companies that advertise will see that what they are doing now is just screwing themselves over.

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Alternatives to YouTube Ads?

YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So now what of those who are really dependent on ad revenue? If you saw my last post, I talked about the possibility of protesting Google's new policy on ad supported videos. I suggested that people drop ad revenues altogether and try to find other avenues of income. If you get enough people to join, Google might rethink it's policy.

The problem is, some people are heavily dependent on YouTube ads and because of the new policy, will no longer be able to support themselves. There are also some people who want to protest, but can't because they rely so much on the revenue generated by these ads. So below are just a few suggestions on trying to make money without YouTube ads.

...

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neVjtb11HVk)

I can understand why someone would stay on YouTube. If you have a lot of subscribers already, it would be difficult to give up what you worked so hard for. So the idea is not to give up YouTube, but to replace your ad revenue income.

First and foremost: If you are heavily dependent on ad revenues, don't give that up immediately. First, try some of the ideas and wait until you make enough with these ideas before you kill the ads. Perhaps you'll luck out and Google will come to their senses and you won't have to worry about losing out at all.

If you are one of the ones loosing revenue already, then don't delay and try some of the sites below.

Patreon: This is an awesome site. I have my own Patreon account for another not at all popular blog so I seriously don't know how much money you can make if you are popular. However, I've seen some Patreon accounts like the one for the Tara Babcock (woman in the above video) and, wow! If you are truly popular, you can make a lot of money.

Site note: Just in case you think it's because of "bewbs", click here.

Downside: Write a fiction that no one really cares about and you won't make any money. Not that I'm dealing with sour grapes or anything.

Paypal.me: This is a great replacement for Fan funding. You can put a simple link like https://www.paypal.me/NNeal in the description of each video.

Just make sure that you mention it somewhere in your video. The description doesn't show up on mobile unless you touch the barely visible down arrow.

Downside: Well, really, there isn't a downside. It doesn't cost anything to have the link on your site or video. There is no incentive to donate like you can give on Patreon, but it does require the least amount of effort to implement.

Minds.com: An idea is to continue to use YouTube to create your videos then share it on Minds. Use Minds.com's "Monetize your Channel" feature.

Downside: You have to sign up to, yet another, social media network. This means, another password, and another thing to keep track of. While there are a lot of people on there already, none of your family or friends will jump on the new social media bandwagon. You'll just have to make new friends. Not that it's a bad thing.

All three of those options can be used at the same time and it doesn't take too much to set up. What's more, they give you another chance to interact with your fans.

There are other options that you can use, however, they will take a little more time to implement. I cover them in my next post.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Can we Stop YouTube "Censorship?"

Icon for censorship (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In order for a company to maintain upkeep of a server, there has to be some form of revenue. The thing is with Google, the reason why you can upload YouTube videos, blog, and interact with others for free, is because of the ads that support them.

The downside? Now that corporations are finally realizing where the real money is, they are now paying for a lot of those freebies. This turned out to be a bad thing, mostly for small time YouTubers.

I thought, No problem, we can use fan funding.

Yeah, about that. It was eliminated for non-live channels. I guess you can still use fan funding for live streams, but what about the people who don't want to record live? To add insult to injury, smaller channels will no longer be able to monetize their videos unless they have at least 10,000 views.

YouTube's explanation is that not enough people were using it and it does look like the case. Ad revenue is much more predictable and convenient. Since fan funding was implemented, I rarely ever saw the button. So it's possible.

However, my internal tin-foil-hat-wearing paranoia whispers, "That's awfully convenient."

I mean, they cancel it just when people would be angry enough to switch over? Are they deliberately trying to kill smaller channels, making it more difficult for someone to get a foothold in the video market?

YouTube could have kept it. I don't think it would have cost them anything to leave that feature be. Then they could have still killed the ad revenues for anyone that had under 10k views.

All that said, I believe we can still have an influence. For those who actually rely heavily on ads for their revenue, it will be the most difficult for you. I will have a post on alternatives in the near future (like the very next post). For the rest of you, here's the plan:

Demonetize your videos. Try to find alternatives instead.

Focus mostly on private creator content. Anything owned by the dinosaur news corps and TV/movie studios should be put on a watch diet.

Actually you should seriously consider not watching them at all, but I know how addictive some of these shows are and a bigger budget does help with the quality (sometimes). Just be wary of shows that try to spoon-feed a belief system to the masses.

Get Adblock or Privacy Badger. Yes, this will block ads. Yes, this may be a problem for a lot of creators who rely heavily on ads. However, this might also convince them on their own to find alternatives.

If your favorite YouTuber does live stream, try to donate something.

Support your favorite YouTuber using their alternative means of funding. Some of these videos require a lot of research which takes a lot of time. You like their content and they would like to spend more time on it to create better content. The best way to do that is to stay home instead of working their 9-5 jobs.
Be sure to share your favorite videos and use other forms of social media to bring views. Google has said that they will bury "unsavory" videos. This means anything does not fit the mainstream narrative will be buried.
Convince other YouTubers to do the same. Sharing this post might be a good start.

If enough revenue stops from their "bread and butter" YouTube might consider other alternatives and realize that the corporations who are trying to regain control, actually have none.

There are alternatives to generating revenue. Unfortunately, as I said before, there are plenty of YouTubers who seriously rely on that funding to pay the bills. My next post will address the other ways to generate revenue without YouTube ads. Hint: You can replace fan funding with a link to paypal.me.
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YouTubers Speak out:

NO! Youtube Is Not Dying, BUT Will We All Die Soon? Maybe... : Don't rely too much on one form of revenue.

YouTube's Definition of "Advertiser Friendly: Old media making mountain out of molehills

YouTube has shut down Fan Funding: A Traveler who relies heavily on Fan Funding

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Sunday, March 9, 2014

Sony, Panasonic, and YouTube

Español: Logo Vectorial de YouTube (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I had a Sony DCR-SX45 and loved it but it had just one shortcoming... Durability. I have six kids and the camera got knocked around a lot. After two years, the camera finally quit. Maybe it was the huge rainstorm that soaked it a year ago. Who knows. As good as a camera that was, I need something a little more durable - and waterproof.

I still would recommend the Sony, as the quality is awesome, to anyone with less than three kids. You can check it out here on Amazon.

That said, I decided to purchase the Panasonic HX-WA03. It will be my first "unboxing" video when it comes in, which brings me to my new YouTube channel. There's not much there yet since I am focusing right now on my "This (not so) Boring Life Channel".

That said, I'll probably start reviewing some gadgets that I've used for a couple of years that are still on the market, like my blender. Some gadgets prove their worth, not out of the box, but a year down the road, after constant, normal use. So the Panasonic may not be my first video review.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Free Stuff: Google

Image representing Google as depicted in Crunc...

Image via CrunchBaseOkay, before you say "Well, DUH! Everyone knows of Google! It's like, the best search engine ever!" continue reading first. I'm about to talk about Google's other features, like Gmail, Calendar, Blogger, and Google Desktop - all which are free.
I've had my account on blogger since before Google owned it, but it has improved a lot since I first signed up. One main thing, is that at one time, only geeks with a lot of knowledge of at least HTML and some CSS could have unique templates. Everyone else was stuck with the few basic templates they had.
Now, there are so many templates, you finally can have a blog that is pretty unique. If you think it's not unique enough, you can very easily upload your own background and change the colors and modify the layout by adding and removing widgets.
Calendar is also a decent feature. I use it to keep my blackberry calendar up do date and I'm planning on using it so that Mike and I don't get conflicting schedules. I just need to convince my husband of the awesome power of the shared calendar.
There are many other google applications that you can use, but there's one item that ties it all together: Google Desktop. This program, you download and install on your computer. I use it in place of Windows Gadgets and it lets me see my calendar and the weather in one glance. I also have a too do list and a little notepad to take quick notes without having to run notepad.
The Google Sync for the blackberry automatically syncs with your calendar, so that whatever you or someone else puts on the online calendar shows up on your blackberry calendar. Using Google Mobile App, you can check your gmail and the news.
If you already use any Google account (including Youtube), you can use your email and password to tie all of your Google accounts together. So you can use just one email address and password. This works even if you don't have a Gmail account.