YouTube Update

It’s February, and that means I’ve been creating weekly videos for YouTube for nearly a year.

I took some time off over Christmas, but I’m back, and I have some updates!

First of all, the bad news. If you haven’t heard by now, YouTube is changing its partners agreement later this month. Previously, if you wanted to become a YouTube partner (ie have the ability to run ads on  your channel and make money), you needed to have 10,000 views on your channel. YouTube has changed that quite recently, to make it much harder to become a YouTube partner. You now need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the past year to qualify.

This is all very interesting stuff; and for me, deeply disappointing. You might remember how excited I was when I got to the point where I could monetize my channel. And honestly, money is not really the big deal here. It’s not like I was making thousands (I have made $2.56 to date). It’s more around the kinds of features that you get when you become a partner–I have the ability to connect my website to my channel so people can click through links on my videos, I can suggest other videos, playlists, etc. When I am no longer a YouTube partner, I may be losing all this.

It also feels (pardon my french) shitty to have been given something, and then have it taken away. Add to that the current state of YouTube and all the bullshit that’s been going on with the Paul brothers (who, IMHO should have been banned from the platform, but are making YouTube so much money, that they never will be), and it all makes me feel quite disappointed. I’m someone who is trying to create solid, quality content, but I am getting set back, while others who create (again IMHO) crap make millions. It’s disappointing.

Okay! Moving on!

Here’s what’s happened for me that’s been quite positive.

One of my biggest challenges with video creation was managing technical issues. I have been struggling to find a good location to shoot my videos in; something convenient and that works with my technical setup.

This has taken a long time to sort out; literally months. But I’m there! Finally!

My new setup lives in my home, which I really like. I wasn’t committed to this, but I’m glad that it worked out. I have a new “set” that is centred around a portable island (the Ikea Stenstorp). I got an induction burner so that I can cook on it, and the height is just perfect. It also has tons of storage underneath to make it easy for me to hide and pull things out.

This works together with the cowboy lights I already have, as well as my tripod. But the biggest news is that I just bought a new camera!

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It’s a Canon M100. I already own an older model Canon DSLR (A Rebel T3i to be exact), but it has been well known to have issues when shooting video (autofocus just doesn’t work). Until now, I’d been using a borrowed old school video camera, which, honestly, wasn’t terrible quality.

But my new camera is a step up–mirrorless creates a better quality picture. I’m still struggling with some technical issues–mostly around sound. I purchased a microphone, but it’s been pretty useless so far, and the mic on my headphones does a much better job, to be honest.

I also need to think about investing in some kind of gizmo that allows me to shoot food videos (tasty style) from overhead.

But I’m getting there!

Here are my stats for the last two months, which aren’t terrible. Growth continues to be slow, but organic.

I’ll check back in with you soon, but in the mean time, here’s an example of some of the newer content I’m creating with my new camera and setup.

I also had set a goal to create a “bumper” or a “sting” as they’re called–it’s basically an intro to your videos. I have created one (using Keynote). Check this out:  CBL intro.

How are all of you adapting to the new YouTube news? I’d love to hear in the comments below.